IRLF 


SB    E7M    D7M 


Hearst  Fountain 


Song  an6  Sermon 


Elizabeth  Xowe  TiClatson 


Company 

San  jfrancisco,  Gal. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1905 

by  ELIZABETH  LOWE  WATSON 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  Washington,  D.  C. 


TO 

FRANK  H.  WOODS 
COUNSELOR,  GUARDIAN,  FRIEND 


Contents 


To  OUR  GUARDIAN 7 

CONSOLATIONS 8 

SOUL  OF  NATURE  :    A  PRAYER 11 

RESURRECTION    13 

THE  SOUL'S  NEW  YEAR 14 

To  A  FRIEND 18 

SUNRISE  IN  RELIGION 20 

THE  TRUE  PERSPECTIVE 23 

GIVE  AND  LIVE 24 

THE  COMING  WOMAN 24 

DIVINE  DYNAMICS 27 

A  REVERIE 29 

THE  MOTHER'S  PRAYER 31 

THE  CHRISTMAS  CHILD 33 

Is  HAPPINESS  THE  CHIEF  OBJECT  OF  LIFE?.  .  35 

A  LESSON 38 

THE  MINISTRY  OF  SCIENCE 39 

THE  VALUE  OF  PSYCHICAL  EXPERIENCE.  ...  42 

TEMPLE  OAK 43 

HYMN — LOVE'S  MINISTRY 45 

HYMN — DIVINE  GUIDANCE 46 

THE  SUNNY  SIDE  OF  THINGS 47 

MY  IDEAL  HOME 50 

GOD  STILL  WITH  Us  .  52 


CONTENTS 

SPRING  PICTURES   53 

BROKEN  IDOLS 55 

AN  ANGEL'S  REBUKE 57 

A  SIGH  60 

GENERATION  61 

FRAGMENTS    65 

THE  GOSPEL  OF  THE  FARM  68 

IN  MEMORIAM 72 

GUARDIAN  ANGELS  74 

PROGRESS 76 

THE  SECRET  OF  HAPPINESS 80 

OUR  TREASURES  IN  HEAVEN 88 

THE  Music  OF  LIFE 90 

EVANGELINE    94 

SOUL  QUESTIONINGS 97 

THE  VOICE  OF  GOD 100 

LINES 103 

INVOCATION    104 

HOPE'S  MESSAGE  107 

TRUE  LOVE 108 

TRAILING  ARBUTUS 109 

To  THE  KING'S  DAUGHTERS Ill 

AMERICA 1 14 

FROM  ADAM  TO  ANGEL 1 19 

PHYSICS  AND  RELIGION  137 

THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  HOUR 155 

LORD,  WHAT  WILT  THOU  HAVE  ME  To  Do?.  177 
TEMPLE  OAK  HYMN  .  . .  177 


VI 


Song  and  Sermon 


TO  OUR  GUARDIAN 

Dear  Heart!  Star  of  our  Sorrow's  night! 

Only  the  wordless  music  that  we  dream 
Pours  forth  from  orbs  of  golden  light 

In  a  mellifluous,  eternal  stream, 

Might  fitly  voice  our  thoughts  of  thee, 

Or  tell  the  story  of  our  love, 
From  touch  of  earthliness  so  free 

God's  angels  its  every  act  approve. 

How  then  can  humble  harp  of  mine 

Give  even  faintest  breath  of  that  which  lies 

A  summer  radiance  all  divine, 

Too  deep,  too  sweet,  except  for  tear-cleansed 
eyes  ; 

Its  glow  gladdening  every  day, 

Its  fragrance  in  every  flower  that  blows  ; 
Exempt  from  change  and  all  decay, 

Melting  to  song  Time's  ever  -falling  snows. 

It  can  not  be,  —  silent  I  wait, 

Or  walk  the  way  thy  love  marked  out  for  me, 
Save  only  this,  —  I  dedicate 

The  fairest  fruitage  of  my  toil  to  thee. 

7 


CONSOLATIONS 

Judge  not  your  life  by  the  little  part 
That  lies  too  near  to  view  aright, 

But  with  a  calm  and  trusting  heart 
Await  the  future's  clearer  light. 

By  looking  at  a  tiny  seed 

How  few  can  prophesy  the  flower? 

Who  knows  how  far  a  kindly  deed 
May  yet  extend  its  subtle  power? 

Take  not  your  journey's  reck'nings  while 
Within  the  valley's  veiling  mist, 

Nor  in  the  mountain's  dark  defile 

Where  light  of  sun  hath  never  kissed; 

But  press  straight  on  without  delay, 
And  what  has  seemed  a  trackless  wild 

Shall  open  up  a  flower-decked  way 

On  which  God's  tender  thoughts  have  smiled. 

8 


CONSOLATIONS 

Through  winter's  storm  and  rayless  night, 
The  Earth  in  perfect  safety  rolls, 

Guided  by  her  attraction's  might, — 
And  thus  it  is  with  human  souls. 

When  all  life's  surface  writhes  in  pain, 
And  by  some  cruel  fate  seems  driven, 

We  still  are  held  by  Love's  bright  chain, 
Safe  anchored  in  the  breast  of  Heaven, 

We  can  not  controvert  God's  will, 

Within  its  circle  all  abide; 
There  is  no  depth  He  does  not  fill, 

There  is  no  height  to  us  denied. 

As  atoms  into  crystals  build, 

Moved  by  some  silent,  unseen  power, 
Or  sunlight's  fairy  pencils  gild 

The  satin  cheeks  of  opening  flower, 

So  does  the  weakest  man  obey 
A  law  of  life  that  slowly  brings, 

From  all  his  fellowship  with  clay, 
A  shining  Soul  that  soars  and  sings! 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Then,  though  we  may  not  understand, 

The  mighty,  veiled  Alchemist, 
Whose  sweet,  unuttered  thoughts  command 

The  birth  of  pearl  and  amethyst, 

O,  let  us  fill,  with  heart  content, 

The  place  He  deems  for  each  the  best, 

Of  Love  a  willing  instrument, 

Trusting  to  Time  and  God  the  rest. 


10 


SOUL  OF  NATURE :    A  PRAYER 

Soul  of  Nature !    Life  divine ! 
Make  our  hearts  Thy  holy  shrine, 
Let  our  human  discord  be 
Mastered  by  Thy  harmony. 

O,  Thou  mighty  Architect, 

Whose  plans  the  endless  years  perfect, 

Building  systems  infinite 

By  Thy  silent,  changeless  might, — 

Thou  whose  thoughts  are  suns  and  stars ; 

Thou  whose  Law  no  error  mars, 

To  Thy  boundless  love  we  turn, 

Toward  Thy  perfect  Truth  we  yearn  ; 

Very  weak  and  blind  are  we, 

But  in  trust  we  lean  on  Thee. 

Soul  of  Nature!     Everywhere 
Shine  the  symbols  of  Thy  care; 
In  the  sea  depths  vast  and  blue, 
In  the  smallest  drop  of  dew, 
In  siderial  spaces  filled 

11 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

By  the  beauty  Thou  hast  willed ; 
And  Earth's  clods,  to  Thy  caress 
Respond  with  perfect  loveliness, 
Lily,  rose,  and  violet, 
Gems  in  golden  sunshine  set. 

Soul  of  Nature!     Source  of  things! 
Quench  our  thirst  at  living  springs! 
From  this  island  of  the  sky 
Unto  Thee  Thy  children  cry. 
By  the  magic  of  Thy  breath 
Banish  bitter  dreams  of  Death; 
Let  its  language,  for  Love's  sake, 
Be  made  plain  to  hearts  that  break. 
Help  us  all  to  understand 
Love  can  make  Earth  Beulah-land, 
Where  our  angel  friends  will  be 
Glad  to  bear  us  company, 
Building  Heaven  now  and  here, 
Day  by  day  and  year  by  year, 
'Till  our  lives,  O   Soul  divine, 
Have  become  at-one  with  Thine. 


12 


RESURRECTION 

Arise !  arise !  O  Soul,  and  sing ! 

The  Lord  of  life  hath  come  in  might, 
And  all  the  world  is  blossoming 

Beneath  His  kiss  of  love  and  light! 

The  hills  doff  rusty  robes  of  brown, 
And,  draped  in  living  tapestries, 

With  sunshine  for  a  golden  crown, 

Give  answering  smiles  to  cloudless  skies. 

The  air  is  filled  with  winged  delight, 
A-thrill  with  joy  the  dullest  clod, 

The  trees  all  decked  with  garlands  white 
Breathe  smokeless  incense  unto  God. 

And  thou,  O  Soul,  with  eyes  to  see 

And  ears  that  like  fine  harps  are  strung, 

With  heart  that  shrines  Divinity 
And  knows  Love's  universal  tongue. 

Shouldst  voice  a  rapture  all  divine, 

And  fair  as  any  flower  be 
The  garments  that  about  thee  shine, 

Thou  heir  to  immortality! 

13 


THE  SOUL'S  NEW  YEAR 

My  Soul  awake!  that  thou  mayest  see 
What  Heaven  kindly  proffers  thee: 
A  bright  New  Year,  which  thou  art  free 
To  make  Joy's  own  eternally; 
A  leaf  of  Time,  all  glistening  white, 
Unsullied  save  as  thou  shalt  write 
Thy  thoughts  and  deeds  as  yet  undone, 
Thy  noble  triumphs  yet  unwon, 
And  all  the  blessed  things  that  wait 
For  thee  within  the  Future's  gate. 

Why  shouldst  thou  let  the  buried  Past 

Its  spectral  gloom  o'er  the  New  Year  cast? 

Dead  joys  shall  resurrected  be, 

Like  souls  when  from  the  flesh  set  free, 

Purer  and  in  a  fairer  dress, 

Aglow  with  holy  happiness. 

Then  dip  thy  pen  in  living  light, 
And  on  the  snowy  pages  write 
What  thou'lt  be  glad  to  read  again, 
And  have  to  all  the  world  made  plain, 
With  angel  eyes  onlooking  too, 
So  good,  so  beautiful  and  true. 

14 


THE  SOUL'S  NEW  YEAR 

If  thou  hast  suffered  mighty  wrongs , 

Which  silenced  Life's  melodious  songs ; 

If  Hate  hath  thrust  its  poisoned  dart 

Fiercely  within   thy  inmost  heart ; 

And  Envy  snatched  the  fairest  flowers 

That  bloomed  within  Life's  summer  bowers; 

If  Slander  with  its  viper-sting 

Hath  turned  to  bitter  Love's  sweet  spring, 

And  left  a  shadow,  cold  and  chill, 

Where  once  was  Hope's  ecstatic  thrill ;    . 

If  Death  hath  laid  his  mighty  spell 

On  friends  beloved,  until  there  fell 

An  awful  darkness,  with  no  ray 

Of  light  from  Life's  eternal  day, — 

Though  all  these  griefs,  O  Soul,  were  thine 

In  the  Past,  a  Power  divine 

Will  make  of  them  a  source  of  good. 

All  great  truths  feed  on  martyr  blood ; 

The  sweating  brain  and  bursting  heart 

Doth  energy  divine  impart 

To  Evolution's  onward  roll 

Within  the  realm  of  thinking  soul. 

Forget  thy  wrongs  in  eagerness 
The  wrongs  of  others  to  redress, 
Then  shall  thy  songs  again  outpour 

15 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Clearer  and  sweeter  than  before. 
And  let  the  hate  that's  aimed  at  thee, 
By  thy  own  magnanimity 
Be  turned  to  love, — then  balm  shall  flow 
And  thoti  be  stronger  for  the  blow! 

Be  generous ;  let  Envy's  sneer 

Call  forth  from  thee  sweet  Pity's  tear; 

Rejoice  that  thy  flowers  look  so  fair 

And  sweeten  all  the  common  air, 

They  will  not  the  sooner  die! 

A  noble  life  will  refute  the  lie 

By  Slander  hissed.    And  take  no  care 

That  deeds  be  told  by  trumpet  blare, — 

Goodness  immortal  springs,  though  thrust 

Ten  thousand  times  into  the  dust. 

And  Oh,  what  power  can  slay  true  love? 
Each  stroke,  each  trial,  can  but  prove 
Its  deathlessness ;  a  light  divine 
That  doth  e'en  through  the  Grave's  gloom 

shine. 

It  melts  tear-mist  from  mortal  eyes 
And  draws  their  glances  to  the  skies, 
Unlocks  the  gate  that  darkly  swings 
'Twixt  broken  hearts  and  angel  wings 

16 


THE  SOUL'S  NEW  YEAR 

And    blends    our    prayers    with    answering 

breath 
Of  friends  transformed  by  wondrous  Death. 

Then  Soul,  be  strong,  and  bravely  write 
Upon  the  New  Year's  page  so  white 
Thoughts  that  shall  glow  like  living  light, 
Deeds  that  shall  advance  the  Right. 
Oh,  tune  anew  Love's  silver  lute, 
And  strike  the  gentle  chords  long  mute; 
Let  every  day  of  the  New  Year  be 
Brimful  of  Truth's  sweet  melody — 
A  joy  for  all  eternity! 


17 


TO  A  FRIEND 

The  sorrows  of  the  world  are  its  moral  in- 
spirations. The  necessity  of  toil  has  been  the 
cause  of  countless  noble  differentiations.  Man, 
the  greatest  of  all  toilers,  recreates  the  earth  and 
builds  highways  to  the  throne  of  God.  The 
psychic  experiences  of  one  age  become  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  of  subsequent  periods. 

Let  us  be  reverent  toward  the  Past,  as  good 
sons  and  daughters  are  toward  their  mothers. 
Let  us  be  patient  with  the  Present,  since  it,  too, 
is  simply  a  learner.  And  as  for  our  bodies' 
limitations,  our  business  failures,  our  hunger  and 
nakedness, — why,  these,  too,  are  links  in  the 
economic  chain  of  Divine  Law ! 

My  dear  friend,  your  eyes  are  a  little  dim 
with  unshed  tears  from  wounded  self-love,  so 
they  do  not  clearly  discern  the  glory  of  this 
golden  day,  the  brightest  flower  in  the  wreath 
of  Father  Time!  A  secret  sob  over  some  van- 
ished dream  that  was  permitted  to  visit  your 
soul,  not  as  a  permanent  joy,  but  as  an  incentive 
to  search  after  a  higher  reality,  has  choked  the 
stream  of  musical  thoughts  in  your  brain.  Give 

18 


TO   A    FRIEND 

way!  let  the  tear  fall  and  be  dried  by  a  kiss 
from  some  ever-present  guest  from  the  eternal 
shore.  Let  the  sob  break  over  its  iron  bounds, 
and  lo,  you  will  find  it  was  only  an  imprisoned 
note  of  song! 

What  are  lawsuits,  and  mortgages,  gains  and 
losses?  Eddies  on  the  stream  of  Time,  bubbles 
that  glass  a  momentary  grief  or  joy,  soon  to  be 
pricked  by  the  lance  of  Death, — then,  ah,  then, — 
the  un-fleshed  Soul,  clothed  upon  with  all  best 
thoughts,  set  in  the  midst  of  new  opportunities; 
hands  grasped  by  those  that  we  dreamed  had 
fallen  into  dust ;  the  doors  of  the  Universe  thrown 
wide  open  and  angels  of  Love  singing,  "Come 
home!"  God?  Why,  my  friend,  I  feel — 

God's  immanent  in  everything! 

Our  little  lives  His  greatness  share, 
And   all   our   wayward   wandering 

Is  compassed  by  His  tender  care. 

As  earth  was  born  of  solar  fires, 
And  still  exists  on  Heaven's  light, 

Faint  note  amid  celestial  choirs 
That  sing  through  spaces  infinite, — 

19 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

E'en  so  are  man  and  lowliest  flower 

That  breathe  Love's  incense  from  the  sod 

Brought  forth  and  fed  by  Spirit  power, 
And  are  at-one-ment  with  our  God. 


SUNRISE  IN  RELIGION 

When  Nature,  through  her  drowsy  dreams 
Is  thrilled  by  fair  Aurora's  kiss, 

Her  Soul  awakes  in  wood  and  streams 
To  countless  signs  of  conscious  bliss. 

And  soon  her  whole  life  is  astir, 

Glad  tremors  run  o'er  land  and  sea, 

While  myriad  wings  of  satin  whir 
In  haste  to  join  Love's  symphony. 

The  tears  that  stained  Night's  dusky  cheek, 
With  diamond  glow  bedeck  the  Morn, 

And  all  God's  creatures,  strong  and  weak, 
At  break  of  day  seem  newly  born. 

20 


SUNRISE   IN   RELIGION 

And  so  in  Nature's  dual  life 

We  see  the  changing  seasons  play ; 

The  sleep  of  Soul,  with  dark  dreams  rife, 
From  which,  aroused  by  Truth's  white  ray, 

Sweet  Hope  from  dull  despair  upsprings, 

Revealed  are  beauties  hid  before, 
And  Aspiration's  eager  wings 

Toward  God  and  Anglehood  upsoar. 

And  now,  o'er  Eastern  hills  of  thought, 

A  silent  flood  of  radiance  rolls, 
While  Western  slopes  the  smile  have  caught 

And  flashed  it  to  our  inmost  souls. 

The  purple  gloom  of  ages  past, 

Gives  way  before  Truth's  rising  sun, 

And  waking  hosts  are  marshaling  fast 
At  sound  of  Freedom's  signal  gun! 

As  lilies  lift  their  fragrant  lips 

From  dimpled  lakes  to  greet  the  Dawn, 

A  sweet  and  pure  apocalypse 

Of  beauty  from  corruption  drawn, 

21 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

E'en  so,  from  superstitions  grim, 
The  blessed  blossoms  of  our  Faith, 

Float  up  in  fervent  prayer  and  hymn, 
A  joyous  triumph  over  Death ! 

The  altars  built  by  Grief  and  Fear, 
Dread  symbols  of  eternal  woe, 

Are  cleansed  of  blood  and  briney  tear 
By  Heaven's  precious  overflow! 

And  in  each  human  heart  inheres 
The  Christ  divine  awaiting  birth, 

When  dried  shall  be  pale  Sorrow's  tears, 
And  purest  joy  possess  the  earth. 

And  where  the  preacher  once  proclaimed 
The  wrath  of  God  and  burning  Hell, 

Good  men  of  ancient  creed  ashamed, 
Make  haste  His  tender  grace  to  tell. 

And  Nature,  long  by  priests   decried,  f 
Unveils  her  beauty  to  our  sight, 

A  patient  and  unerring  Guide 
To  all  that  is  divinely  right. 

22 


THE    TRUE   PERSPECTIVE 

In  every  fold  of  her  fair  dress, 

We  find  the  hieroglyphs  of  God, 
And  lines  of  perfect  loveliness 

Inscribed  on  every  common  clod. 

O'er  all  the  boundless  realm  of  life 

Are     stretched     Love's     beauteous,     brooding 

wings, 
And  through  our  finite  sin  and  strife 

A  ceaseless  song  of  progress  rings. 


THE  TRUE  PERSPECTIVE 

The  soul  will  yet  so  far  master  its  mortal 
environment  as  to  be  able  rightly  to  estimate  all 
human  experience  and  cease  its  moan  over  the 
Inevitable,  which  will  then  appear  in  its  true 
character, — the  eternally  Beneficent. 

Our  short-sighted  ignorance  is  the  only  bar- 
rier between  us  and  our  infinite  possessions.  And 
Wisdom  is  the  only  riches,  for  Wisdom  is  the 
sum  of  all  knowledge,  the  application  of  all 
truth,  the  willing  performance  of  all  duties;  in 
short,  the  harmonious  adjustment  of  the  finite 
Ego  to  the  infinite  "I  Am." 

23 


GIVE  AND  LIVE 

They  who  love  their  gardens  know 
How  to  make  their  posies  blow; 
Pluck  and  give,  and  more  and  more 
Shall  be  added  to  their  store. 

Thus  it  is  with  Love's  red  rose, 
The  more  we  give  the  more  it  grows, 
Till  the  heart  rilled  to  the  brim, 
Overflows  with  love  to  Him 
Who  is  life  of  all  that  lives, 
And  that  Life  forever  gives. 


THE  COMING  WOMAN 

Lo!  She  is  surely  coming  up  the  highway  of 
the  Age, 

A  suitable  companion  for  Philosopher  and  Sage, 

Her  garments  full  of  healing,  her  heart  of  heav- 
enly grace, 

And  Love's  surpassing  splendor  brightly  shin- 
ing on  her  face ! 

24 


THE  COMING   WOMAN 

Her  brow  a  mimic  mountain  of  sweet,  unsullied 
snow, 

Where  thoughts,  like  morning  glories,  perpetu- 
ally glow ; 

Her  eyes  cellestial  windows  that  the  happy  Soul 
looks  through 

In  eager  search  and  yearning  for  some  noble 
work  to  do. 

Her  lips  are  touched  with  fire  of  purest  eloquence, 

Of  brave,  resistless  pleading  in  Humanity's  de- 
fense, 

And  her  bosom  swells  with  pity  for  the  un- 
fortunate, 

Be  they  victims  of  vile  priest-craft  or  of  an  evil 
State. 

Yes !  She  is  swiftly  coming,  and  behold !  within 
her  hands 

She  bears  a  precious  passport  to  all  Life's  Treas- 
ure-lands ; 

A  Title  Deed  of  Self-hood  and  full  freedom  to 
pursue 

All  the  highways  and  byways  to  the  Beautiful 
and  True. 

25 


SONG   AND  SERMON 

Oh,  never  shall  she  barter  her  fair  body  for  her 
bread, 

Nor  ever  in  shining  shackles  the  downward  path- 
way tread, 

For  white- winged  Aspiration  shall  e'er  bear  her 
safe  from  sin, 

And  side  by  side  with  brothers  all  good  fortune 
she  shall  win. 

Rejoice!  for  she  is  coming!  The  proud  mother 
of  a  race 

That  shall  love  to  do  her  honor  and  crown  her 
in  her  place ; 

In  councils  of  the  nation  and  the  holiest  of  homes 

Shall  shine  her  love  and  wisdom  when  the  com- 
ing Woman  comes! 


26 


DIVINE  DYNAMICS 

Our  lives  are  one  with  the  rolling  spheres, 
And  over  all  God's  will  hath  sway; 

The  labors  of  uncounted  years 

Have  brought  the  harvest  of  To-day 
In  all  its  many-hued  array. 

The  Past,  engulfed  in  Error's  night, 
Was  but  an  ugly  chrysalis 

Where  Truth  prepared  her  wings  of  light, 
On  which  to  soar  from  Death's  abyss 
And  bear  mankind  to  endless  bliss. 

The  funeral  pyres  of  martyred  men, 
Who  died   for  harmless   heresies, 

Still  mark  the  way  where  Truth  has  been 
Encamped  along  the  centuries, 
Protected   by   the   pitying   skies. 

How  slight  the  pangs  Cervetus  bore 
Compared  to  manhood's   noble   pride! 

Howf  dear  the  names   forevermore 

Of  those  who  have  for  Truth's  sake  died, 
The  Christs  whom  Hate  hath  crucified! 

27 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Thought's  golden  shuttle  swiftly  sped, 
As  by  a  great,  unerring  hand, 

Hath  woven  Truth's  unbroken  thread 
Into  Life's  pattern,  vast  and  grand, 
Nor  ever  paused  at  priest's  command, 

Until  at  last,  our  glad  eyes  see, 
As   on  a  mighty,  pictured  scroll, 

A  proud  and  tender  prophecy 

Of  Truth's  bright  future  far  unroll, 

Her  throne  the  enfranchised,  deathless  soul. 


28 


A  REVERIE 

The  Summer-tide  flows  full  and  sweet 
O'er  rose-wreathed  banks  at  Sunny  Brae; 

An  emerald  sea  breaks  at  my  feet 
In  billowy  bough  and  leafy  spray 

That  fill  the  air  with  tremors  fine, 

Like   music-thrills   from  harps   divine. 

White  clouds  flock  up  high  hills  of  blue, 
Like  sheep  by  unseen  shepherds  led; 

Bright  humming-birds   sip   honey-dew 
From  crimson  roses  overhead, 

And  golden-winged  butterflies 

Flit  noiseless  where  the  sunlight  lies. 

And  here,  on  Nature's  tender  breast, 
My  tired  heart  its  burden  flings; 

Her  lullabies  shall  soothe  to  rest 
My  soul's  too  eager  questionings, 

That  seek  in  Summer's  opulence 

Some  healing  balm  for  woes  intense. 

Oh,  wind-harps  that  are  never  mute, 

Your  songs  are  sweet,  but  still  I  miss 
The  soft  tone  of  my  darling's   flute, 

29 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

His  happy  laugh  and  loving  kiss, 
And  tender  looks  from  precious  eyes 
That  made  this  place  a  paradise! 

God  infinite!  the  thing  I  ask 

And  which,  methinks,  would  meet  my  want, 
Must  seem  to  Thee  so  small   a  task, 

So  slight  a  thing  for  Thee  to  grant! 
Restore  to  the  flute  the  sweet  young  breath 
That  was  so  lately  lost  in  death — 

And  let  the  love  that  made  life  dear, 
Hold  me  in  its  embrace  once  more! 

So  small  when  poured  thro'  heaven's  wide  sphere, 
And  yet  for  me  such  ample  store, 

That  with  it  life  seemed  crowned,  complete, 

And  all  my  labors  rendered  sweet! 

But  hush!  great  Nature  gently  bends 
From  beauty's  raptures  to  my  soul 

And  whispers :     "Griefs  like  these  are  friends ; 
All  life  is  one  eternal  whole — 

Through   death   God   draws   your   heart   above, 

And  fills  it  with  a  holier  love! 

30 


THE   MOTHER'S   PRAYER 

"Come,  break  the  bonds  of  selfish  grief, 
Behold  your  darling's  glorified ! 

And  let  your  sorrow  find  relief 

In  this:     Their  joys  are  multiplied! 

Believe,  love's  summer  will  not  wane, 

And  faithful  hearts  shall  meet  again." 


THE  MOTHER'S  PRAYER 

O  God,  hold  me  in  Thy  great  palm, 
And  fill  my  soul  with  sacred  calm, 
While  this  sweet  miracle  is  wrought 
Which  shall  embody  Love's  first  thought! 
O'ershadow  me,  e'en  as  of  yore 
Thou  didst  the  mother-heart  that  bore 
A  Christ-child,  divinely  pure  and  good, 
Bright  link  'twixt  earth  and  Anglehood! 
And  if  I  pass  through  scenes  of  strife, 
Oh,  guard  with  peace  the  precious  life 
That  stirs  with  secret  joy  my  bosom 
And  germinates  to  deathless  blossom ! 
Write  on  my  Soul  all  things  most  fair, 
And  let  th'  unconscious  being  share 
The  beauteous  images  that  shine 

31 


SONG   AND  SERMON 

Into  my  heart  from  Life  Divine. 

And  when  Day's  Sabbath  hours  come,  slow 

Tripping  through  twilight's  tender  glow, 

Make  Thou  a  temple  of  my  heart, 

And  on  an  altar  set  apart 

From  all  earth's  meaner,  baser  things, 

Let  angels  lay  rich  offerings 

Of  noble  inspirations  given 

To  teach  my  soul  the  songs  of  Heaven. 

Father!  Thou  seest  the  anxious  fears 

That  oft  are  mirrored  in  my  tears, 

And  only  Thou  canst  know  the  pain 

By  which  sweet  Love  is  born  again, 

To  find  anew  its  rosy  rest 

Upon  a  woman's  throbbing  breast. 

And  Thou,  the  loving  and  the  just, 

Since  granting  me  so  great  a  trust, 

Wilt  not  the  Wisdom-flower  withhold 

When  most  I  need  its  fruit  of  gold. 

Oh,  kiss  with  peace  my  prayer-thoughts  wild! 

Oh,  bless  me  through  my  little  child! 

And  may  I  feel  that  in  its  birth 

Thou  art  new-imaged  on  the  earth! 


THE  CHRISTMAS  CHILD 

O  Prophet-dream  of  the  long  ago, 

Fulfilled  in  the  Undefiled, 
Whose  Presence  we  feel  in  Love's  sweet  glow, 

Our  beautiful  Christmas  Child! 

Our  hearts  hold  fast  to  the  Angel  lore 

That  gives  him  heavenly  birth, 
We  worship  the  holy  Mother  that  bore 

A   Christ  to   sorrowing  Earth. 

Out  of  the  gloom  of  two  thousand  years 

Shines  ever  that  fair  Ideal, 
Pleading  with  us,  through  our  doubts  and  fears, 

To  unfold  in  ourselves  the  Real. 

"I  and  my  Father  are  one,"  said  He, 

"And  ye  are  my  brethren  too ; 
And  I  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me, 

Through  the  Beautiful  and  True." 

As  Earth  cometh  forth  every  morn 
Renewed  from  the  womb  of  Night, 

So  with  each  babe  in  the  world  is  born 
Again  the  blessed  Christ-light. 

33 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

For  lo!  was  it  not  love,  first  and  last, 
That  made  Him  a  Saviour  true? 

And  it  did  not  perish  with  the  Past, 
But  liveth  ever  anew. 

And  now  at  the  Christmas-tide  He  comes, 
With  out-stretched,  bounteous  hand, 

Scattering  blessings  in  all  the  homes 
Throughout  this  beautiful  land. 

Oh,  welcome  Love's  holy  festival, 

In  which  the  whole  world  takes  part! 

A  little  season  the  Christ  shall  dwell 
Again   in  the  great  world's  heart. 

Behold  how  the  good  deeds  multiply, 

Miracles  are  wrought  again! 
For  joy  the  widows  and  orphans  cry, 

Love  melteth  the  hearts  of  men! 

And  Heaven  rejoiceth  with  the  Earth 
As  the  light  of  that  day  dawns  mild 

On   which  we  celebrate  the  birth 
Of  the  holy  Christmas  Child. 


34 


IS  HAPPINESS  THE  CHIEF  OBJECT  OF 
LIFE? 

Happiness  is  the  fruit  of  right  living;  hap- 
piness is  the  natural  consequence  of  obedience 
to  the  laws  of  your  constitution.  You  can  not, 
therefore,  separate  happiness  from  the  good,  and 
we  can  affirm  that  in  this  sense  it  is  the  chief 
object  of  life.  Not  the  happiness  of  the  body, 
of  the  sensuous  nature  alone,  for  he  who  enjoys 
only  the  sense  of  the  flesh  knows  not  great  joy; 
it  is  only  he  who  finds  this  a  step  and  uses  it 
for  mounting  to  higher  altitudes  who  knows  the 
joy  of  living;  he  who  has  triumphed  over  self, 
who  has  fought  bravely  with  temptations  and 
won  the  victory.  Then,  sweeter  than  the  shout 
of  happy  soldiery  when  victory  for  them  is  de- 
clared, prouder  than  the  trumpet-blare  which 
cries  a  great  man's  power,  is  the  consciousness 
of  that  man  who  has  seen  what  is  good  and  true 
and  been  able  to  climb  to  it  and  to  live  it  in 
his  soul.  This  must  be  the  grandest  object  of 
our  life;  to  conquer  that  which  is  pernicious 
in  ourselves,  and  that  which  militates  against  the 
highest  nature  of  the  soul ;  to  conquer  all  things 

35 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

below  us,  convert  chaos  into  beauteous  forms  of 
life  and  bring  from  discord  sweetest  harmony. 
To  work  all  life's  fallow  ground;  to  tear  up  the 
virgin  soil  where  now  may  grow  only  weeds, 
and  sow  it  thick  with  golden  seeds  that  abound 
with  life  most  beautiful,  impatient  to  burst  forth 
into  bloom  and  sacred  fruits ;  and  where  there 
are  desert  wastes  afar,  o'er-sweeping  which  are 
scorching  winds  of  bitter  passion ;  to  turn  into 
these  the  fresh,  full,  silvery  tides  of  spiritual 
being  until  the  banks  shall  overflow  and  water 
all  those  scorching  sands ;  until  the  very  at- 
mosphere shall  call  from  the  flashing  music  of 
the  tides  their  soft  tributes  to  send  them  back 
again  in  sweet  baptismal  rain,  and  from  this 
mighty  labor  of  the  soul  to  see  those  wastes 
made  to  blossom  like  the  rose! 

At  last  to  wrench  from  nature  crude  her  won- 
drous secret;  to  convert  her  ores  and  precious 
stones  into  things  more  fair,  that  shall  stand 
for  attributes  of  spirit  life;  to  see  the  chill,  dull 
atmosphere  of  mortal  being  glittering  with  ten 
thousand  starry  thoughts  that  have  their  birth 
in  God's  own  bosom — this  it  is  to  labor  well 
and  to  earn  rich  happiness.  And  this,  whether 

36 


IS  HAPPINESS  THE  CHIEF  OBJECT  OF  LIFE? 

we  know  it  or  not,  is  the  object  and  aim  of 
every  human  soul.  Though  now;  we  lose  our 
way ;  though  we  now  see  not  into  the  mystery 
by  which  we  are  surrounded;  though  vain  seems 
all  our  labor,  and  impossible  to  attain  the  heights 
and  the  vast  plains  out-lying  there  beneath  the 
gorgeous  sun  of  wisdom's  day,  still  the  steps 
are  possible;  they  were  carved  by  the  law  of 
God. 

By  and  by  the  mist  will  melt  away  and  the 
rough  stone  of  life,  which  like  that  stored 
in  nature's  mighty  warehouse,  awaits  the  artist's 
hand  to  give  it  form,  will  by  the  slow  drop- 
ping of  our  human  tears  reveal  a  diviner  shape. 
And  in  these  ways  so  wondrous  and  so  little 
known  to  us,  God  works  His  will  with  men,  un- 
til at  last  that  blessed  vision  which  glows  be- 
fore us  all,  and  which  we  name  our  hapiness, 
shall  be  fulfilled,  and  each  soul  know  why  it 
is  here,  why  it  has  waited  long,  why  toiled  and 
struggled  against  a  cruel  fate — a  fate  that  at 
last  becomes  its  servant,  and  shapes  the  higher 
life  to  which  it  was  born,  and  of  which  it  is 
the  natural  heir. 


37 


A  LESSON 

'Twas  only  a  linnet,  such  a  little  thing! 
Now  softly  alight,  then  on  gay  lilting  wing, 
But  I  leaned  from  my  window  to  hear  him  sing, 

And  life  seemed  the  sweeter,  all  day  long, 
For  joy  clearly  rang  in  each  silvery  note 
That  thrilled  and  rippled  from  the  wee,  swell- 
ing throat 
As  he  sang  at  rest  or  on  bright  wings  afloat, 

Gladdening  God's  world  with  that  one  song. 

'Twas  only  the  fragrance  of  a  hidden  flower 
That  came  floating  to  me  in  a  morning  hour, 
When,    waking   again   to   Grief's   unvanquished 
power, 

I  wondered  why  the  days  should  go  on; 
But,   oh,   the   visions   that   the   flower's   breath 

brought ! 

The  memories  of  love  and  treasures  of  thought, 
Till  my  soul  on  the  wings  of  Hope  was  up-caught 

And  the  triumph  o'er  Selfishness  won. 

O  my  beautiful  bird  of  the  blithesome  song, 
Thou  hast  taught  me  that  one  needs  not  to  be 

strong 
To  lighten  life's  burden  of  sorrow  and  wrong, 

38 


THE   MINISTRY   OF   SCIENCE 

Lifting  our  thoughts  from  dust  to  the  skies ; 
And  thou,  dearest  little,  half-veiled  violet, 
If  thou  hast  power  to  banish   regret, 
May  not  even  I  do  some  worthy  thing  yet 

To  help  Life  in  its  heavenward  rise? 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  SCIENCE 

With  fearless  front  and  flashing  eyes, 
Fair  Science  searches  land  and  sea, 

And  plants  her  scepter  in  the  skies, 
Queen  of  the  world  that  is  to  be. 

She  is  not  Pagan,  Christian,  Jew, 
But  bears  to  each  some  beam  of  light, 

Conserving  evermore  the  true, 
And  pointing  ever  to  the  right. 

She  slays  the  dragons  of  the  Past 
That  bar  the  way  to  truth  divine, 

And  into  problems  deep  and  vast 
She  drops  her  mighty  plummet-line. 

39 


SONG   AND  SERMON 

She  works  her   miracles  by   rule, 
And  puts  the  juggling  priest  to  shame ; 

She  proves  the  godless  man  a  fool, — 
With  quenchless  fires  her  altars  flame. 

By  her  the  desert-waste,  redeemed, 
Yields  rich  supplies  of  fruit  and  bread, 

And  where  the  noisome  vulture  screamed 
The  starving  millions  now  are  fed. 

She  holds  the  light'nings  in  her  hand, 
Or  bids  them  on  Love's  errand  flee; 

E'en  Time  and  Space  own  her  command, 
And  bow  before  her  sov'reignty. 

Nor  does  she  pause  where  matter  rolls 
Its  pondrous  barriers  in  her  way, 

But  on  the  border-land   of   souls 
Eager,  expectant,  seeks  Life's  day. 

And  now  with  lifted  torch  she  parts 
The  veiling  shadows  of  the  grave, 

And  pours  upon  our  bleeding  hearts 
The  tides  of  Truth  that  heal  and  save. 

40 


THE  MINISTRY   OF   SCIENCE 

She  beckons  to  the  slaves  of  Fear, 
And   cries,    "The   Truth   shall   make   yon 
free!" 

Beneath  her  spell  Thought's  flaming  sphere 
Is  rounding  to  infinity ! 

The  God  of  old  tradition  dies, 

The  God  of  Nature  takes  his  place; 

One  Fact  can  conquer  countless  lies, 
And  love  divine  redeem  the  race. 


41 


THE  VALUE  OF  PSYCHIC  EXPERIENCE 

Let  us  continue  the  writing  of  sacred  scrip- 
tures. Let  us  listen  patiently  to  the  psychic 
experience  of  others.  Let  us  reverently  remem- 
ber that  the  greatest  souls  in  history  have  been 
those  who  have  defied  space  and  time  and  things 
of  sense,  in  the  consciousness  of  the  existence 
of  the  soul.  Let  us  strengthen  ourselves  in 
the  heat  of  the  combat  of  life  with  the  thought 
that  over  all  is  the  reign  of  law;  and  that  as 
immortal  spirits  we  have  a  right  to  truth,  a 
right  to  to-day's  experiences  and  that  from  the 
prophet's  vision  to  the  seraphic  smile  on  the 
face  of  our  dying  friend ;  from  the  faintest  whis- 
per to  our  inner  soul,  from  the  unseen,  to  the 
grandest  song  of  spiritual  triumph  that  was  ever 
sung,  we  have  need  of  psychical  experiences; 
they  shall  be  to  us  strength  in  our  hour  of  weak- 
ness; light  in  midnight  darkness;  and  when  be- 
reavements come,  when  our  dear  ones  depart 
from  us  to  enter  the  silent  portals  of  death, — they 
shall  be  to  us  the  promise  of  reunion  in  years  to 
come.  They  shall  be  to  us  the  assurance  that 
divinity  reigns  throughout  the  universe. 

42 


TEMPLE  OAK 

This  noble  Oak!     It  has  withstood 

The  tempests  of  a  century, 
Defying  earthquake,  fire,  and  flood, 

Growing  in  strength  and  symmetry, 

Until  we  sit  within  its   shade, 
As  in  a  temple,  pure  and  sweet, 

Above,  the  living  arches  laid, 
And  soft  mosaics  at  our  feet. 

The  acorn  was  a  humble  thing, 
Cast  from  some  laden  parent-stem, 

Light  freight  e'en  for  a  robin's  wing, 
Yet  richer   far   than  any   gem, 

For  lo!  it  held  the  mystery 

Of  Life  in  Death,  and  knew  the  way 
Through  some  sweet,  secret  chemistry, 

To  climb  from  darkness  into  day. 

See  what  a  breadth  of  space  now  lies 
Between  its  birthplace  in  the  sod, 

And  where  the  topmost  branches  rise, 
Like  arms  outstretched  in  prayer  to  God ; 

43 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Yet  had  we  watched  the  miracle, 

With  sleepless  eyes  the  whole  time  through, 

No  one  the  story  e'er  could  tell 

Of  how  or  when  the  great  Oak  grew! 

And   'tis   with   man   as   with   a   tree, — 
Pushed  from  below,  drawn  from  above, 

He  rises  to   his   destiny, 

Guided  and  guarded  by  God's  love. 

The  season's  sweep  of  cloud  and  sun, 
The  Summer's  smile,  pale  Winter's  blast, 

The  swing  of  Time's  great  pendulum 
That  swiftly  marks  the  Present  Past; 

Are  but  the  heart-beats  of  one  Life, 
From  which  all  lesser  life-forms  spring, 

The  least,  with  that  sweet  glory  rife 
Whose  birth  did  make  the  stars  to  sing. 


HYMN— LOVE'S  MINISTRY 
(Tune — Portuguese  Hymn) 

O,  infinite  Giver  of  every  good, 

We  thank  Thee  for  love  that  all  change  hath 

withstood, 
That  stretcheth  forth  hands,  strong,  to  help  and 

to  save, 
And  riseth  triumphant  o'er  Death  and  the  Grave. 

As  sweet  as  the  fragrance  of  dew-laden  flow'rs, 
Or  glad  song  of  birds  in  the  morning's  first  hours, 
Are  the  ties  of  love  'twixt  Thy  children  below, 
That  help  us  Thy  wisdom  and  goodness  to  know. 

Omnipotent  Spirit,   we   fervently  pray 

Thou 'It  strengthen  our  hearts  for  Love's  service 

alway, 
That  hatred  may  end  and  fierce  warfare  may 

cease 
And  the  nations  of  men  share  the  blessings  of 

peace. 

45 


HYMN— DIVINE  GUIDANCE 
(Tune— Italy) 

Come  Thou  Spirit  of  love, 
Help  us  Thy  grace  to  prove 

Each  passing  day. 
Be  Thou  our  constant  guide, 
Subdue  unholy  pride; 
Teach  us,  whate'er  betide, 

Thee  to  obey. 

"  frk 

Spirit  of  Truth   descend, 
Our  fainting  souls  befriend 

When  sorrows  come ; 
Thou  Comforter  divine! 
Our  hearts  to  Thee  incline, 
And  let  Thy  pure  light  shine 

Where'er  we  roam. 

Spirit  of  nature,   fair, 
Teach  us  Thy  joy  to  share, 

In  all  good  will. 
Thy  truth  shall  make  us  free; 
O'er  death  give  victory; 
And  Faith's  sweet  prophecy 

Thy   laws   fulfil. 

46 


THE  SUNNY  SIDE  OF  THINGS 

It  is  only  by  contrast  that  we  can  properly 
estimate  anything.  We  fancy  that  we  are  poor, 
then,  seeing  some  worse  estate,  we  pause,  in- 
voice our  possessions,  and  straightway  find  that 
we  are  affluent.  And  really  how  grand  is  the 
poorest  man's  inheritance!  If  he  only  have  soul- 
perception,  eyes  to  see,  ears  to  hear,  and  a  mind 
to  understand,  the  whole  round  earth  may  be 
his  to  enjoy,  the  wide  glory  of  the  heavens  wait 
on  him.  And  though  countless  millions  share 
the  splendors,  they  shall  never  grow  less  by  as 
much  as  one  ray  of  light,  one  note  of  song,  one 
breath  of  fragrance,  one  thought  of  love.  On 
the  contrary,  each  individual  soul  by  its  refrac- 
tion of  the  light,  memory  of  the  song,  sense  of 
the  fragrance  and  enactment  of  the  thought  shall 
add  to  the  measure  of  all  delights.  The  soul 
eternizes  every  evanescent  form  of  visible  na- 
ture, every  dream  of  the  infinitely  productive 
mind. 

What  a  boon  is  the  discernment  of  beauty; 
and  then  to  be  born  in  the  midst  of  ever  varying, 
ever  inspiring  loveliness !  Nothing  exists  with- 
out adornment.  The  tiniest  insects  are  gorgeous 

47 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

with  jewels  and  proud  regalia.  The  multitudin- 
ous leaves  bear  illuminated  inscriptions ;  the  very 
dust-grains  that  are  brushed  aside  as  vulgar  are 
flashing  crystals,  fragments  of  suns  and  stars. 

"As  a  man  thinketh,  so  is  he."  Emerson  says, 
"We  have  what  we  are."  The  hope  of  the  world 
lies  in  true  education,  the  development  of  all  the 
mental  faculties.  Not  in  the  absorption  of  books 
or  other  people's  opinions,  but  the  apprehension 
of  realities. 

The  evils  under  which  humanity  groans  are 
not  a  necessity.  Ignorance  and  selfishness  are 
curable.  The  brute  forces  of  the  world  are  be- 
ing rapidly  subdued,  and  the  effort  necessary  to 
that  end  has  accomplished  that  which  is  much 
more  admirable, — it  has  lifted  man  himself  to 
places  of  divine  power,  benevolence,  creative 
genius,  and  developed  attributes  formerly  as- 
cribed to  God  alone. 

Christ-love  incarnate  in  thousands  of  human 
hearts  is  answering  to  the  cry  of  want,  build- 
ing missions,  kindergartens,  industrial  schools, 
"open-door  homes,"  and  diffusing  light,  warmth, 
and  good-will  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land. 

To  the  Soul  there  is  no  Past.  All  the  days 
48 


THE   SUNNY  SIDE   OF   THINGS 

that  I  have  lived  are  a  part  of  my  Now.  No 
power  can  banish  me  from  the  beauty  I  have 
once  beheld,  nor  silence  the  music  I  have  heard, 
nor  rob  me  of  the  love  that  has  enriched  my 
life.  Mother's  cradle-song  sounds  for  me  still ; 
not  an  accent  of  her  soft  voice  has  weakened, 
not  a  smile  of  her  patient  face  has  faded.  The 
sweet-brier  and  wild  anemone,  those  poems  of 
my  childhood,  are  here  in  this  room,  aye  here  in 
my  soul;  the  delicate  pink  of  the  one,  the  delec- 
table fragrance  of  the  other,  all  here.  Had  I 
friends  dearer  than  life  a  little  while  ago,  but 
vanished  now?  Nay,  not  a  word,  not  a  caress, 
not  an  eye-beam  but  are  mine  still,  and  ever  will 
be!  I  may  wander  in  deserts,  I  may  languish 
in  prison,  I  may  toss  on  tempestuous  seas,  I  may 
lie  down  in  the  shadow  of  death  with  no  one 
in  the  flesh  to  minister  to  me,  but  mother's  lull- 
aby will  murmur  in  my  ear;  love's  kisses  will 
thrill  my  heart;  baby-hands  will  lie  like  cool 
rose  leaves  on  my  bosom ;  friends  will  not  be 
far,  and  just  as  the  darkness  seems  deepest, 
Nature's  Soul-light  will  break  over  the  battle- 
ments of  clay  and  the  veil  of  tears  will  be  rent, 
and  night  and  loneliness  will  be  no  more. 


49 


MY  IDEAL  HOME 

A  palace  or  a  cottage,  it  matters  not  to  me, 
For  'tis  love  that  makes  the  home-life,  wherever 

I  may  be, 
The  sound  of  gentle  voices  and  smiles  of  faces 

sweet, 

And  round  of  sacred  duties  with  tenderness  re- 
plete, 

The  bird-song  and  the  flowers,  free  to  every  one, 
These  are  the  priceless  treasures   of  my   Ideal 
Home. 

And  were  I  rich  and  honored  or  lowly-born  and 

poor, 
The  dimpled  feet  of  children  should  dance  around 

my  door; 
Their  winsome  ways  and   laughter,   so  joyous, 

light,  and  free, 
Are  e'er  the  sweetest  music  in   all  this  world 

to  me; 
And  when  Time's  purple  shadows  around  my 

pathway  come, 
The  light  of  their  life's  morning  shall  still  keep 

bright  my  home. 

SO 


MY   IDEAL   HOME 

'Tis  not  unbounded  riches  nor  masterworks  of 
art, 

Nor  name,  nor  fame,  nor  beauty  that  doth  con- 
tent the  heart, 

But  the  sense  of  unstained  honor,  a  life-path 
bravely  trod. 

Firm  trust  in  human  nature  and  confidence  in 
God, 

With  love  as  a  strong  anchor  wherever  we  may 
roam, 

And  peace  and  joy  awaiting  in  the  harbor  of 
sweet  Home. 


51 


GOD  STILL  WITH  US 

Beloved,  God  hath  not  left  His  world ! 

Behold  His  signs  and  wonders 
Are  now  as  great  as  when  He  hurled 

His  Word  through  Sinai's  thunders. 

'Tis  true  that  even  now  as  then 
Some  human  eyes  are  holden, 

And  angels  come  not  to  all  men 
In  visions  bright  and  golden ; 

But  when  our  souls  are  riper  grown, 

The  things  we  deem  ideal 
Shall  to  our  better  self  be  known 

As  all  that  is  most  real. 

As  stellar  gardens  of  the  night, 
With  golden  blossoms  burning, 

E'er  draw  our  glances  to  the  light 
And  fill  our  hearts   with  yearning; 

So  in  our  darkest,  doubtfullest  mood, 
We  touch  Truth's  fair  dominions, 

And  nearer  draw  to  Angelhood 

'Neath  Love's  sweet,  sheltering  pinions. 

52 


SPRING  PICTURES 

Oh,  every  Age  is  edged  with  gold 
Of  Hope  and  Promise  thrilling, 

And  prophecies,  both  new  and  old, 
God's  laws  are  now  fulfilling. 


SPRING  PICTURES 

Sweet,  the  sky  is  once  more  splendid 
And  a  perfect  sapphire  hue, 

While  below  in  flowers  are  blended 
Green,  and  red,  and  gold,  and  blue. 

Here  among  my  vines  and  roses 
Tiny  birds   have  built   their  nests, 

And  a  cautious  peep  discloses 
Jewels   'neath   wee   mother-breasts, 

While  among  the  swaying  branches 
Faithful  bird-mates  flit  and  sing, 

And  the  sunlight  softly  dances 
In  and  out  on  leaf  and  wing. 

53 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Hill-ward  great  trees  warmly  hover 
O'er  fair  flowers  at  their  feet, 

E'en  as  sometimes  might  a  lover 
O'er  a  face  to  him  grown  sweet. 

And  the  Spring,  though  late  in  coming, 
Old-time  promises  has  kept, 

Lilac  blooms  and  insects  humming, 
Lilies  that  so  lately  slept, 

Now  rejoice  in  resurrection 
From  the  sun-enkindled  sod, 

Teaching  us  the  law's  perfection 

By  which  souls  shall  rise  toward  God. 


BROKEN   IDOLS 

Yes,  one  by  one  they  fall, 
Oh,  must  I  part  with  all 

The  idols  of  my  youth? 
What  day-dreams  have  I  dreamed! 
How  fair  the  future  seemed! 

How  cruel  is  the  truth! 

Love's  little  souvenir, 
Lying  beside  me  here 

Upon  a  gilded   shelf, 
Entwined  with  memories 
Of  blessed  yesterdays, 

Lives  longer  than  Love's  self! 

For  such  a  woe  what  balm? 
Where  smiles  the  harbor  calm 

Waiting  to  shelter  me? 
Alone  my  spirit  braves 
The  bitter,  mocking  waves 

Of  a  wild,  wintry  sea! 

Hark!    What  is  it  I  hear? 
A  low  voice,  silvery  clear, 

Like  the  skylark's  when  it  soars 

55 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Above  the  clouds  and  sings, 
Poised  on  tireless  wings, 

Till  life  in  song  outpours! 

But,  as  one  who  has  heard 
The  raptures  of  that  bird, 

And  knows  the  meaning  well, 
Yet  not  by  any  art 
Unto  another's  heart 

Can  e'er  the  meaning  tell, 

So  I  may  not  repeat 

The  message,  soft  and  sweet, 

That  fell  like  fragrant  rain 
Upon  the  bitter  dust 
Of  lost  hope,  love,  and  trust 

Until  they  bloomed  again! 

But  not  in  mortal  form, 
With  human  passion  warm, — 

And  iridescent  glow, — 
And  not  with  clasping  hands, 
And  glance  that  understands 

The  silent  "yes"  and  "no." 

56 


AN   ANGEL'S  REBUKE 

These  children  of  the  skies 
Unto  their  Source  must  rise, 

Cleansed  of  their  earthly  part; 
My  love  shall  live  divine, 
Star-pure  my  hope  shall  shine, 

And  peace  possess  my  heart. 


AN  ANGEL'S  REBUKE 

Behold  our  Mother  Earth,  her  history  is  like 
our  own!  From  chaos,  impenetrable  gloom  and 
poisonous  vapors  she  rolled  into  her  appointed 
orbit.  'Mid  flames  and  seething  billows  of  un- 
redeemed elemental  forces  she  toiled  for  count- 
less years,  and  then  came  forth  gashed  and 
scarred  on  her  whole  round  bosom.  Every  inch 
of  surface  has  been  a  battle-field,  a  burial- 
ground,  a  thousand  times,  and  still  the  work 
goes  on.  Shall  we  despise  the  grandeur  of  her 
mountains  because  born  of  mad  upheavals? 
Shall  we  mock  her  majesty  because  it  grew 
through  epochs  of  toil  and  pain?  Shall  we  stop 

57 


SONG   AND  SERMON 

our  ears  to  the  music  of  the  sea  because  once 
dead  silence  reigned,  and  close  our  eyes  to  the 
glory  of  the  Summer  day  because  it  came  from 
depths  of  rayless  midnight?  Then  why  regret 
our  own  infancy  with  its  attendant  helplessness ; 
or  youth,  because  it  has  eras  of  its  own,  as 
necessary  links  to  manhood  and  womanhood  as 
the  first  blade  of  corn  to  the  full  ear?  Why 
regret  the  learning  of  that  alphabet  of  grief 
by  which  we  are  enabled  to  interpret  the  sub- 
lime tragedies  and  crowning  sympathies  of  hu- 
man life? 

The  things  that  have  been  named  as  proof 
of  eternal  pain  are  so  only  to  the  weak  and 
ignorant.  The  wise  and  strong  behold  even  in 
life's  follies  the  best  of  teachers.  If  we  stumble 
and  fall,  we  should  rise  again,  not  execrating  the 
path  but  looking  more  carefully  for  a  safe  place 
wherein  to  rest  the  foot.  He  who  wastes  time 
in  bootless  regret  is  stealing  from  God's  pure 
treasury.  Regret  is  worse  than  hardness  of  heart 
if  it  saps  our  courage,  and  is  useful  only  as  a 
spur  to  higher  endeavor. 

Let  the  dead   leaves   of  last  year   lie  undis- 
turbed!    Nature  will  take  care  that  they  serve 

58 


AN  ANGEL'S  REBUKE 

some  wise  purpose.  They  enrich  the  ground  and 
are  resurrected  in  eternal  changes  of  life  and 
beauty.  So  our  dead  hopes,  our  vanished  dreams, 
our  faded  flowers  of  love  are  not  without  their 
sacred  use.  Higher  and  purer  possessions  take 
their  places,  and  if  we  turn  not  back,  but  look 
forward  and  upward,  we  shall  see  a  new  glory 
of  buds  and  blossoms,  a  glow  of  unborn  days 
flushing  the  ever-widening  horizon,  and  grateful 
for  the  past — that  cradle  of  all  giants  of  truth, 
goodness,  and  love — we  shall  meet  the  future 
without  fear,  trusting  in  the  immutable  good 
forever ! 


59 


A  SIGH 

O  Nature,  let  me  lean  on  thee 

In  some  soft  nook  close  by  the  sea, 

Till  I,  from  thy  infinity, 

Draw  comfort  for  the  inward  smart 

Of  heavy  blows  upon  the  heart, 

That  fall  when  friends  must  live  apart. 

Thy  bosom  doth  before  me  rise 
In  mountains  bared  to  loving  skies, 
That  kiss  with  dreams  of  Paradise 
The  half-slumbering  world,  which  swings 
Unconsciously  on  airy  wings, 
Life's   real,   amidst  imaginings. 

Fair  mother!  thou  dost  love  me  still; 
Thy  moonlight's  soft,  magnetic  thrill 
All  whitely  clothes  me,  like  the  will 
Of  some  sweet  angel  that  hath  known 
The  weaknesses  to  which  I  own, 
And  hath  the  greater,  wiser  grown, 
So  folds  his  glory-robe  'round  me, 
As  thou  in  night-time's  secrecy 
Dost  clothe  the  mountains  and  the  sea. 

60 


GENERATION 

O  Nature!  little  do  I  know 

Of  thee ;  and  yet  the  ebb  and  flow 

Of  our  poor  human  joy  and  woe 

Thy   all-encircling  laws   control; 

The  body's  need,  the  deathless  soul, 

The  smallest  part,  the  mighty  whole; 

And  so  again  I  lean  on  thee 

In  this  soft  nook  by  the  singing  sea, 

And  know  that  thou  will  comfort  me. 


GENERATION 

'The  world  is  going  wrong,"  you  say, 
"And  has  been  ever  since  creation! 

Come,  let  us  kneel  to  God  and  pray 
For  all  mankind's  regeneration!" 

Nay,  nay,  my  friend,  the  world's  all  right, 
And  God  heeds  not  our  supplication ; 

All  that  is  needed  is  more  light 
Upon  the  law  of  GENERATION. 

61 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

This  wondrous  power  to  enshrine 
In  form  of  flesh  the  good  or  evil, 

And  with  the  parent-life  entwine 
The  attributes  of  God  or  Devil ! 

A  subtle,  unsubstantial  breath, 
With  kiss  of  love  as  consecration, 

Leaps  through  the  boundaries  of  death, 
A  thing  of  life,  a  soul-creation! 

Yet,  like  the  source  from  whence  it  springs, 

Be  it  Gehenna  or  Elysium, 
Our  secret  thought  it  ever  brings 

Before  our  oft-astonished  vision! 

A  moment's  hate  may  crystallize 

Into  defiance  of  all  duty, 
Or  thought  from  Love's  sweet  paradise 

Become  a  never-fading  beauty. 

We  sow  our  passions,  rank  and  wild, 
Amid  the  poor  Soul's  strong  delusions, 

And  then  expect  a  holy  child 

As  fruitage  of  our  life's  confusions! 
62 


GENERATION 

Men  .sacrifice  their  soul  to  sense, 
And  trample  on  the  rights  of  women, 

Then  make  this  plea,  in  self  defense — 
"But,  surely,  all  men  are  human!" 

And  women,  weak,  irresolute, 
Allow  the  awful  desecration 
Of  that  which  love  should  e'er  transmute 
Into  a  blessed  consecration. 

And  from  the  fountains,  so  defiled, 

Flows  life's  dark  stream  of  troubled  waters, 
The  Christ  crushed  out  of  every  child, 

While  Sin  claims  all  Earth's  sons  and 
daughters. 

And  thus  we  go  from  bad  to  worse, 

Few  hoping  for  amelioration, 
While  preachers  prate  of  "primal  curse," 

And  paint  the  scenes  of  soul-damnation! 

And  yet,  my  brothers,  God  is  just, 

And  speaks  through  every  law  of  Nature; 

As  manifest  in  grains  of  dust 

As  in  the  fairest  human  creature! 

63 


SONG  AND   SERMON 

And  when  these  laws  we  rightly  ken, 
And  yield  ourselves  in  full  surrender, 

Our  world  shall  shine  with  noble  men 
As  yonder  skies  with  starry  splendor! 

Then  shall  the  God  within  control, 
And  life  bloom  bright  with  aspiration, 

And  Christ,  in  every  new-born  soul, 

Hasten  the  whole  world's  true  salvation 


Love  crushed  to  earth  shall  rise  again 

On  purple  wings  of  healing  power, 
And  white-robed  peace  triumphant  reign 
O'er  all  mankind.     God  speed  the  hour! 


64 


FRAGMENTS 

Man  standing  in  the  presence  of  his  possible 
angel,  looking  forward,  will  not  allow  himself 
to  be  counted  dead,  but  when  the  change  comes 
and  he  passes  from  the  crements  of  clay,  shall 
find  himself  in  new  relations,  with  new  concep- 
tions of  his  personality  and  relation  to  the  di- 
vine cause  which  we  call  God. 

Just  as  the  human  consciousness  permeates 
the  body,  so  the  divine  consciousness  permeates 
nature;  therefore  we  recognize  Infinite  person- 
ality, and  the  soul  of  man  one  with  God,  and 
all  activities  of  nature  but  the  manifestation  of 
divine  will. 

From  ape  to  angel  is  better  than  from  angel 
to  devil.  We  see  in  the  history  of  the  globe, 
which  is  God's  scripture,  that  «man's  falling  has 
all  been  forward,  and  that  all  the  evolutions  of 
life  have  been  like  the  evolutions  of  the  stars, 
full  of  measureless  harmony,  and  the  destiny  of 
the  soul  is  equal  in  its  grandeur  and  in  its  ex- 
panse with  the  universe  itself. 


65 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Nature's  method  of  educating  the  soul  is  to 
visit  the  reaction  of  the  action  upon  the  soul. 
To  suffer  the  consequences  of  our  acts  here  in 
the  physical  realm  gives  us  knowledge  of  the 
nature  of  the  forces  by  which  we  are  surrounded 
and  with  which  we  have  to  deal.  Nature's  pun- 
ishments are  always  for  education  and  reform, 
and  never  for  the  satisfaction  of  any  vengeful 
ire.  So  should  it  be  with  man,  and  crime  should 
be  dealt  with  in  such  a  manner  as  to  bring  the 
criminal  to  his  spiritual  sense  and  reveal  to  him 
his  true  relationship  to  his  fellow  men.  When 
a  man  commits  a  crime  as  the  result  of  his  organ- 
ism, he  should  meet  with  such  restraint  as  will 
educate  his  soul  to  higher  things. 

The  consequence  of  our  acts  we  each  should 
suffer.  This  is  legitimate,  and  by  this  we  learn 
wisdom  and  self-government. 


All  the  little  tasks  of  life  can  be  made  profit- 
able. Let  us  weave  garlands  of  flowers  over 
every  cross  we  bear,  and  instil  a  divine  life  into 
every  word  we  utter.  Let  us  be  real,  honest,  and 

66 


FRAGMENTS 

sincere.  Let  us  cease  to  tear  down ;  let  us  cease 
to  hate,  and  let  us  believe  in  one  another,  and 
also  believe  in  the  divine  appointment  of  our 
soul  to  fulfil  some  mission  in  this  world.  Re- 
member, self-trust  is  the  first  secret  of  success. 


Make  yourself  that  which  is  greater  than  all 
else,  a  comforter  of  your  kind;  a  lover  of  hu- 
manity, and  the  greater  the  lover,  the  more  suc- 
cessful is  the  life ;  and  if  you  love  mankind,  man- 
kind will  find  it  out. 

When  you  think  of  the  great  men  of  this 
world,  remember  that  you  are  as  needful  as  they, 
and  that  there  is  an  empire  within  your  own 
life ;  there  is  an  undiscovered  country  here  which 
hath  power,  when  you  have  made  yourself  ac- 
quainted with  it,  to  make  you  feel  that  you  are 
at-one-ment  with  the  greatest  man  or  woman  that 
ever  lived. 


67 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  THE  FARM 

When  from  the  unknown  Somewhere 
I  was  willed  into  being  here, 

And  from  an  unknown  Something 
Summoned  as  mortal  to  appear, 

It  happened  in  the  country 
And  in  the  Autumn  of  the  year, 

When  the  farm's  fragrant  treasures 
Were  being  swiftly  gathered  in 

From  garden,  field,  and  orchard, 
And  stored  in  cellar,  mow,  and  bin, 

E'er  the  festivals  of  snow-flakes 
In  the  far  northern  climes  begin. 

Oh,  opulent  October! 

Tis  then  the  ripened  leafage  glows 
With  fascinating  splendor 

Such  as  no  other  season  shows, 
When  the  maples  and  sumachs 

Rival  the  beauty  of  the  rose! 

How  well  do  I  remember 

My  happy,  heartsome,  childhood  days 

68 


THE   GOSPEL   OF   THE  FARM 

Among  the  sugar-maples, 

Where  I  studied  Dame  Nature's  ways, 
As  free  and  full  of  music 

As  the  robins  and  saucy  jays! 

A  little  house  of  bass-wood, 

Its  walls  hewed  logs  of  creamy  white, 
And  its  three  small,  square  windows, 

By  day  poured  full  of  Heaven's  light, 
And  the  breath  of  wild  sweet-briar 

When   stars   peeped   through   them   in   the 
night ! 

Mother,  the  central  figure, 

With  her  patient,  all-tender  face, 
Written  full  of  a  story, 

Which  her  children  loved  to  trace, 
In  more  than  common  wording 

On  all  its  lines  of  perfect  grace. 

And   I  never  smell  the  clover, 

Or  hear  a  robin  redbreast  sing, 
Or  the  tinkle  of  a  cow-bell, 

Or  the  low  gurgle  of  a  spring, 
Without  an  inner  vision 

Of  her  love's  tender,  brooding  wing. 

;69 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Perhaps  these  are  the  reasons 

Why  the  farmer's  life  seems  to  me, 

Crowded  with  homely  duties 
And  with  stern  trials  though  it  be, 

Rich  in  unpainted  pictures 
And  in  unwritten  poetry. 

Pray  tell  me  what  sweet  singer, 
Or  writer  of  a  wonder-book, 

Has  revealed  all  the  beauty 
Of  just  a  single,  little  brook, 

Its  low  banks  fringed  with  cowslips 
And  a  song  in  every  nook? 

What  pen  or  brush  of  artist 

Has  ever  told  the  story  yet 
Of  just  a  vine-clad  hillside 

In  the  westering  sunlight  set, 
A  dream  of  haze  across  it 

Faint  as  a  maiden's  first  regret? 

Or  of  empurpled  mountains 

That  pillar  the  gates  of  the  morn 
When  Earth  wakes  from  sweet  slumbers 

70 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  THE  FARM 

With  all  her  loveliness  new-born? 
Or  wheat-fields'  golden  billows, 
Or  the  tall,  tasselated  corn? 

Behold  the  living  gospel 

Of  God's  bounty  in  the  waving  grain, 
And  list  the  angel's  message 

In  the  soft  patter  of  the  rain ! 
What  precious  revelations 

When  all  the  skies  are  clear  again! 

Oh,  happy  are  the  mortals 
With  ears  to  hear  and  eyes  to  see 

The  music  and  the  pictures 
Offered  to  all,  forever  free, 

Fresh  from  the  heart  of  Nature — 
God's  perpetual  ministry ! 


71 


IN  MEMORIAM 

Dear  mother!     Thou,  whose  holy,  happy  kiss 
First  woke  my  being  to  Life's  conscious  bliss — 
Thy  last  farewell  on  earth  so  lately  said, 
Hath  made  it  seem  that  all  true  love  is  dead. 
I  gaze  far  through  the  silvery  mists  of  Time 
And  see  thee  in  thy  lovely,  rose-wreathed  prime, 
Dispensing  blessings  to  the  clamorous  brood 
Sheltered  by  downy  wings  of  motherhood, 
A  world  of  sweetness  in  thy  fond  caress. 
Ah,  little  knew  we  then  love's  preciousness ! 
For  'tis  by  the  slow  grinding  of  the  years, 
And  steady  dropping  of  grief's  scalding  tears, 
That  pearls  of  mother-love  grow  spotless  white 
And  altogether  priceless  in  our  sight. 

O,  womanliest  of  women !  thy  life 
Doth  show  no  flaw,  as  daughter,  helpmeet,  wife, 
And  gentle  ministrant!    Above  all  art; 
Strong,   self-poised,   with   sweet   humbleness   of 

heart ; 

Bearing  life's  crosses  with  a  smile, 
And  always  "hoping  for  the  best"  meanwhile ; 
Leaning  trustfully  upon  the  great  Unknown, 

72 


IN  MEMORIAM 

Whose  love  through  thy  own  life-work  sweetly 

shone ; 

And  tending  the  little  sheep-fold  carefully 
Through  all  the  wild  storms  of  adversity — 
Desire  and  duty  always  one  with  thee, 
Thus  life's  discords  resolved  to  harmony! 
And  when  thy  weary  feet  trod  the  sunset  slopes 
That  led  to  the  fruition  of  life's  hopes, 
The  golden  seeds  which  thou  with  tears  had  sown 
Sprang  forth  in  affection's  flowers  full-blown, 
And  made  thy  way  to  the  golden  gate's  great  arch 
Seem  almost  like  a  queen's  triumphal  march! 
And  as  thy  sweet  face  grew  more  dim  to  me, 
Among  the  shadows  of  Death's  mystery, 
From  out  the  vast  Elsewhere,  methought  there 

came 

The  sound  of  soft  voices  calling  thy  name, 
Like  a  welcome  home  to  one  most  dear; 
And  now  I  must  feel  Eternity  near — 
For  still  thy  love  holds  me, — sweetest  of  ties; 
Still  shall  I  question  and  wait  for  replies. 

Oh,  will  the  shadowy  curtain  of  Death 
Be  lifted  a  little,  by  Love's  sweet  breath? 
Will  there  come  as  of  yore  thy  love's  pure  light 
Into  the  darkness  of  sorrow's  wild  night? 

73 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Hush,  selfish  heart!  let  that  haven  of  rest 
Be  free  from  the  storms  that  roll  o'er  thy  breast ! 
Since  to  thee,  my  mother,  sweet  peace  is  given, 
I'll  turn  ever  a  smiling  face  toward  Heaven. 


GUARDIAN  ANGELS 

Above  life's  cradled  innocence 

Where  first  we  heard  love's  lullaby, 

Not  knowing  danger  or  defense, 
Our  guardian  angels  hovered  nigh. 

For  royal  prince  or  lowly  born 
God  measures  not  His  mead  of  love, 

But  unto  all,  as  comes  the  morn 
From  light's  celestial  founts  above, 

So  come  these  silent,  unseen  powers, 
To  guide,  to  warn,  to  bless  and  cheer ; 

Their  tender  thoughts  like  fadeless  flowers, 
Filling  with  sweets  life's  atmosphere. 

74 


GUARDIAN  ANGELS 

To  King  Belshazzar  at  his  feast, 
In  strange  handwriting  on  the  wall, 

As  free  to  greatest  as  the  least, 

With  winning  words  or  warning  call. 

They  crowned  the  dark-browed   Socrates 
With  pearls  of  wisdom,  love,  and  truth, 

Unveiling  life's  deep  mysteries 
To  hoary  age  and  eager  youth. 

And  o'er  the  hills  of  Palestine 

Love's  starry  banner  they  unfurled, 

Pouring  from  Heaven  the  song  divine, — 
"Peace  and  good-will  to  all  the  world." 

And  unto  Peter,  John,  and  Paul 
They  came  according  to  their  need, 

E'en  as  to-day  they  come  to  all, 
Inspiring  holy  thought  and  deed. 

Along  life's  shadowed  paths  of  pain, 
They  walk  beside  us  day  by  day, 

And  by  their  sacred  love  restrain 
When  blindly  we  would  go  astray. 

75 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

And  if  we  sometimes  turn  aside 
From  virtue's  sunny  paths  of  peace, 

In  sympathy  they  still  abide 
Until  our  wayward  wand'rings  cease. 

And  when,  "life's  fitful  fever  o'er," 

The  last  great  change  on  Earth  shall  come, 

They'll  meet  us  on  the  farther  shore, 
And  give  us  tender  welcome  home ! 


PROGRESS 

If  ye  scan  the  wondrous  pages 
Written  by  departed  ages 
On  our  common  mother's  bosom  in  a  language 

all  her  own, 

Ye  will  learn  how  God's  desire 
Wrought  through  earthquake,  flood,  and  fire, 
Drawing  all   life   ever   higher,   and   within   the 
spirit-zone. 

76 


PROGRESS 

Note  the  progress  of  the  planet, 
From  fire-mist  to  globe  of  granite, 
Which  in  turn  becomes  a  garden  where  bloom 

the  rose  and  violet; 
Behold  the  ever-changing  splendor, 
Winter  stern  and  spring-time  tender, 
Steadfast  hills  and  restless  ocean  with  more  to 
be  unfolded  yet. 

Take  the  lesson  of  creation 
To  your  hearts  for  consolation; 
Look   beyond   the   stormy  present   to  the   swift 

approaching  calm; 
Nothing  good  can  ever  perish, — 
Every  holy  hope  you  cherish 
vShall  yet  ripen  to  fruition;  let  this  thought  be 

healing  balm. 

Oh,  ye  doubting  sons  and  daughters 
Sailing  on   Life's  troubled  waters, 
Know  ye  not  that  God  is  with  you,  guiding  by 

His  holy  will? 

Oft  when  ye  were  weakly,  thinking 
That  your  little  craft  was  sinking, 
Has  the  breath  of  the  Almighty  softly  whispered, 
"Peace  be  still." 

77 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

And  from  heavenly  heights  above  you, 
Angel  friends  who  fondly  love  you, 
Oft  pour  forth  their  pure  compassion  on  your 

wounded  hearts  below, 
And  in  sympathy  draw  near  you, 
With  some  silent  thought  to  cheer  you, 
Bringing  strength  and  noble  patience,  such  as 

only  they  can  know. 
Every  sore  and  bitter  trial, 
Every  loss  and  self-denial, 
Every  bravely   fought  temptation   in  the  paths 

of  life  you  tread, 

Brings  the  heavenly  helpers  nearer, 
Makes  them  seem  a  little  dearer, 
Keeps  the  mental  vision  clearer  as  ye  strive  for 
goals  ahead. 

Meekly  do  your  daily  duty, 
And  your  life  shall  grow  in  beauty, 
Though  to-day  it  pass  unnoticed  by  the  noisy 

multitude ; 

Not  a  sigh  shall  go  unheeded, 
Strength  shall  come  when  it  is  needed, 
And  your  speed  shall  be  increasing  toward  the 
beautiful  and  good. 

78 


PROGRESS 

If  your  guardian  angels  find  you 
Faithful  to  the  work  assigned  you, 
Though  it  be  a  task  most  humble,  fraught  with 

sacrifice  and  grief, 

They  will  crown  with  Love's  sweet  blossom 
Every  sorrow  of  your  bosom, 
And  with  Truth's  pure,  living  waters  they  will 
heal  your  unbelief. 

'Round  you  spread  Life's  fair  dominions, 
O'er  you  brood  Love's  snowy  pinions, 
While    Truth's    ever-wid'ning    circles    welcome 

every  human  soul. 

Then  with  faith  in  Reason  founded, 
And  with  trust  in  God  unbounded 
Be  your  lives  to  Wisdom  rounded;  haste  ye  to 
the  shining  goal! 


THE  SECRET  OF  HAPPINESS 

When  the  ancient  command,  "Know  thyself," 
has  been  obeyed,  we  shall  have  found  the  key 
to  perfect  happiness.  When  man  has  risen  to 
that  altitude  whence  he  can  measure  himself, 
dropped  the  plummet  of  his  thought  to  the  depth 
of  spiritual  being,  and  lifted  the  prophetic  eye  to 
the  possibilities  of  time  and  space  as  related 
to  his  being,  he  shall  have  discovered  all  the 
avenues  open  for  him  that  lead  to  happiness. 
For  it  is  to  know  ourselves  and  our  place  in 
God's  temple  that  shall  give  us  full  assurance  of 
ourselves,  and  when  this  shall  have,  come  to  us, 
we  will  no  longer  thrust  ourselves  where  we 
are  not  wanted. 

The  pains  we  suffer  here  now  are  the  poniard- 
points  of  those  heavenly  guardians  of  our  life 
who  will  not  allow  us  to  go  far  astray  without 
timely  warning;  and  we  may  be  sure  if  a  dis- 
cord falls  into  the  music  which  flows  from  phys- 
ical health,  it  is  a  warning  that  we  have  stepped 
outside  of  the  circle  which  is  drawn  around  our 
lives  by  the  law  of  the  Infinite ;  we  may  be  sure, 
if,  feeling  the  promptings  of  the  appetites  and 

80 


THE  SECRET  OF  HAPPINESS 

passions,  we  forget  the  good  company  that  we 
are  bound  to  keep — that  is,  the  immortal  soul,  the 
divine  part — we  shall  have  warnings,  and  they 
will  likely  come  in  loss  of  self-respect,  and  in 
pangs  that  can  not  be  rightly  reported  by  the 
mere  physical  senses.  The  emotions  of  the  mind 
as  far  surpass  the  feelings  of  the  body  as  the 
powers  of  the  mind  surpass  the  execution  of  the 
body  in  the  most  delicate  adjustment  of  its  mech- 
anism. It  is  only  when  the  whole  man  is  in 
harmony  with  himself,  and  with  the  laws  under 
which  he  exists,  that  he  is  happy  in  all  his  parts. 
It  is  only  when  he  lives  in  accordance  with  the 
highest  that  is  in  himself  that  he  enjoys  the 
greatest  happiness. 

There  is  what  we  may  call  pleasure  in  the 
gratification  of  the  appetites.  When  we  are 
hungry  it  is  good  to  eat ;  when  we  are  thirsty 
we  enjoy  the  sparkling  waters  of  the  mountain 
spring;  when  we  are  cold  it  is  beautiful  to  feel 
enwrapped  in  a  robe  woven  by  nature  herself 
for  the  benefit  of  her  creatures.  It  is  good  for 
us  to  feel  our  body  cared  for;  there  is  pleasure 
in  everything  that  ministers  to  the  needs  of  the 
body.  But  all  the  pleasures  that  are  possible  to 

81 


SONG  AND   SERMON 

the  physical  senses  are  as  nothing  compared  to 
what  the  mind  is  capable  of  feeling. 

You  know  that  some  of  the  greatest  produc- 
tions of  the  human  mind  have  come  to  us  from 
darkened  prison  cells.  You  know  that  the  most 
beautiful  blossoms  of  the  rarest  genius  have 
sprung  forth  to  the  light  of  the  world  from  the 
dark  periods  of  cruel  persecution.  You  have  seen 
in  this  the  masterful  triumphs  of  the  soul  over  all 
its  physical  environments.  Even  in  these  facts 
we  find  the  most  positive  evidence  of  the  su- 
premacy of  the  human  spirit  and  its  title  to  a 
continued  existence  after  the  dissolution  of  the 
flesh,  in  the  fact  that  a  man  is  never  at  his  best 
except  when  he  triumphs  over  the  demands  of 
the  physical,  and  transcends  the  fleshly  environ- 
ments; when  fetters,  however  heavy,  weight  the 
body  down  lightly ;  when  walls,  however  thick 
and  impenetrable,  can  not  imprison  the  soul ; 
its  shining  wings  pass  through  that  adamantine 
barrier  as  light  through  the  crystal  pane  of  glass, 
and,  tremulously,  dipping  in  the  ethereal  realm 
of  the  spirit,  it  soars  out  to  meet  its  source — the 
Infinite  Soul — and  companions  itself  with  all  that 
is  most  beautiful,  and  tender,  and  fair. 


82 


THE  SECRET   OF  HAPPINESS 

And  we  would  say  to  you,  whatever  the 
sphere  you  are  trying  to  fill,  whatever  you  suffer 
or  enjoy,  however  grand  or  narrow  and  mean 
this  life  may  seem  to  you,  it  is  not  the  ultimate, 
but  the  beginning  of  something  better.  Your 
happiness  is  not  complete  now,  however  rare 
your  achievements,  however  harmonious  your 
environments ;  but  there  is  the  prophecy  that 
you  will  be  crowned  by  and  by  with  a  larger, 
purer,  and  fuller  life. 

Whosoever  you  may  be,  our  message  to  you, 
and  the  key  we  give  you  to  unlock  in  future  time 
the  storehouse  of  happiness,  is  this :  You  have 
not  been  called  to  this  work  of  yours  without  a 
purpose,  and  if  you  do  not  fit  the  niche  altogether 
where  you  now  are,  if  there  are  calls  you  have 
not  yet  obeyed,  nevertheless  no  work  of  your 
hand  has  been  in  vain,  no  thought  of  your  spirit 
has  fallen  fruitless  and  wholly  worthless  to  the 
ground,  and  every  effort  of  your  being  is  always 
tending  upward. 

One  source  of  happiness  is  this  fact  of  prog- 
ress, this  thought  that  this  little  life  we  are  liv- 
ing here  is  not  in  vain ;  for  intimations  come  to 
us  that  we  are  to  be  great  discoverers,  that 

83 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

the  universe  shall  be  made  glad,  by  and  by,  for 
something  we  each  shall  have  done;  the  thought 
that  our  lives,  now  so  narrow  and  imperfect,  are 
related  to  the  workings  of  this  boundless  uni- 
verse, and  that  all  these  pangs  and  struggles  and 
disappointments  and  hunger  and  thirst  are  but 
the  promptings  of  the  Divine  designed  to  spur  us 
forward,  and  prepare  us  for  the  grand  lesson 
which  we  have  to  learn.  The  very  necessity  of 
getting  your  bread  means  something  more  than 
the  labor  of  your  hand  and  the  effort  of  your 
brain  to-day;  it  is  a  training  for  a  nobler  work 
by  and  by;  it  is  a  stroke  given  to  the  block  of 
marble  that  shall  in  future  image  the  beautiful 
ideal.  Every  effort  that  you  make,  I  care  not 
how  short  it  may  fall  of  your  aim,  or  how  great 
the  failure  of  your  life  may  seem,  is  a  necessity. 
All  this  effort  to  subdue  nature  in  the  different 
realms,  in  this  warfare  occasioned  by  the  neces- 
sities of  the  body — all  this  is  simply  developing 
the  native  powers  of  the  soul  and  fitting  each 
of  you  for  this  grander  work  that  waits  further 
on,  which  shall  be  full  of  satisfaction  as  you 
ascend  the  scale  of  life. 


84 


THE  SECRET  OF  HAPPINESS 

Your  happiness  will  never  be  complete  until 
you  know  that  you  are  immortal,  until  you  have 
risen  to  a  full  and  clear  knowledge  that  you  do 
not  live  simply  as  mortals,  your  threescore  years 
and  ten,  but  that  you  are  destined  to  fill  a  place 
for  which  this  life  is  but  a  preparation,  and  that 
immortality  is  yours  by  natural  inheritance. 

Therefore,  I  do  not  believe  the  Materialist  to 
be  happy.  He  who  believes  that  his  nature  can 
be  satisfied  with  what  he  finds  here  and  now, 
and  who  says,  "I  live  only  in  this  material  world ; 
I  know  nothing  of  the  spiritual/'  has  yet  to  feel 
that  thrill  of  divine  happiness  which  is  truly  the 
gift  of  immortal  souls.  And  when  you  have 
risen  to  this,  and  feel  truly  that  you  are  not 
merely  men  and  women,  but  you  are  angels  in 
embryo,  God's  immortal  messengers ;  that  the  life 
you  now  live  is  but  the  preparation  for  that  other 
life,  and  that  the  happiness  which  you  now  feel 
is  only  a  part  of  that  perfect  happiness  which 
shall  be  the  blossom  of  your  perfect  being ;  when 
you  have  risen  into  all  the  chambers  of  the  mind  ; 
when  the  intellect  has  burned  through  every  ma- 
terial want ;  when  the  affections  are  purified,  and 
rendered  so  crystal  clear  that  they  shall  reflect 

85 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

right  thoughts,  and  yield  only  to  pure  prompt- 
ings; when  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  the  moral 
law  in  you  finds  its  fitting  embodiment,  and  your 
activities  are  but  the  expression  of  God's  will; 
when  your  love  to  others  shall  crown  your  life 
with  noble  deeds;  when  the  wings  of  your  intel- 
lect shall  find  their  way  to  every  realm  where 
it  is  possible  there  remains  a  truth  which  shall 
be  a  blessing  to  the  soul ;  when  you  live  in  all 
your  being  a  perfect  life;  when  you  are  able  to 
give  forth  that  note  of  music  for  which  you  stand 
to-day  a  symbol,  that  beam  of  light  which  you 
represent  in  the  great  realm  of  God's  life  and 
glory,  that  thought  of  joy  for  which  you  stand 
in  the  divine  history  of  the  world, — when  all 
this  shall  come  to  pass,  there  will  be  no  nerve 
but  will  thrill  with  happiness,  there  will  be  no 
faculty  but  what  will  sympathize  with  every  atom 
of  your  being.  Then  these  angularities  will  dis- 
appear ;  then  the  thorns  that  pierce  will  lose  their 
point,  and  will  blossom  into  beautiful  flowers  ; 
then  the  words  we  speak  will  not  wound;  then 
the  deeds  we  do  will  drop  into  life's  symphony 
as  a  part  of  its  splendid  song ;  then  the  paths  we 
tread  will  be  bright  with  perennial  flowers ;  then, 

86 


THE  SECRET  OF  HAPPINESS 

Oh,  then,  the  heartaches  of  this  world  shall  be 
healed  as  by  the  touch  of  a  God;  then  the  dis- 
cords that  we  hear  on  every  side  shall  cease; 
then  the  meanings  of  the  sea  will  not  symbolize 
the  distress  of  generations  gone  and  a  mournful 
prophecy  of  those  that  are  to  be ;  then  the  thought 
that  angels  tread  this  way  will  not  seem  a  fancy 
and  an  idle  dream ;  then  our  world  will  not  seem 
apart  from  those  shining  spheres,  whose  revo- 
lutions in  space  make  up  the  melodies  of  time ; 
then,  Oh,  then,  our  story  of  love  will  not  have 
so  many  blotted  pages;  then,  Oh,  then,  life  will 
not  be  selfish  passion  and  burning  regret;  but 
that  prophecy  which  stirs  in  every  heart,  and 
which  keeps  our  courage  good  in  the  darkest 
night  of  human  woe  shall  have  been  fulfilled,  and 
the  secret  of  happiness  told  to  every  listening 
ear. 


87 


OUR  TREASURES   IN   HEAVEN 

The  sunny  days  of  Youth  slip  by 

And  we  are  sad  to  see  them  go ; 
The  flowers  that  we  have  gathered  lie 

In  scentless  dust,  where  none  can  know ; 
Yet  they  are  ours  no  whit  the  less, — 

Embalmed  by  blessed  Memory, 
And  shrined  in  the  Spirit's  consciousness, 

They  share  its  immortality. 

The  yearnings  of  our  later  years, 

That  lead  us  on  and  ever  on; 
The  blasted  hopes  and  blinding  tears, 

The  battles  lost  and  victories   won, 
How  can  the  soul  be  profited 

By  all  these  bitter  blights  and  stings? 
'Tis  thus,  believe,  that  we  are  led 

To  try  the  Spirit's  folded  wings. 

The  tears  we  shed  for  Truth's  sweet  sake, 
Are  sacred  in  our  Father's  sight, 

And  every  forward  step  we  take 
Is  tending  toward  His  glory-light. 

Each  pulse  of  pure,   unselfish  love, 

88 


OUR    TREASURES  IN  HEAVEN 

That  to  another's  joy  is  given, 
In  world  below,  or  world  above, 
Is  truly  Treasure  stored  in  Heaven. 

Each  noble  thought  that  thrills  the  heart 

Is  like  a  golden  shuttle  thrown 
With  shining  thread,  to  take  same  part 

In  patterns  of  the  great  Unknown. 
And  what  we  think  and  feel  to-day, 

The  love  and  hate  to  earth-life  given, 
Weaves  rainbow  hues  or  somber  gray 

Into  the  robes  we  wear  in  Heaven. 


Like  diamonds  do  our  good  deeds  shine, 

Like  pearls  our  tears  of  sympathy, 
While  day  by  day  the  Life  Divine 

Becomes  a  sweet  reality. 
And  when  the  screen  of  sensuous  things 

Dissolves    in   Wisdom's   stronger   light, 
Renewed  are  all  Life's  gushing  springs, 

While  glorious  visions  greet  the  sight. 

Sweet  Love  in  all  her  forms  of  bliss, 
Once  more  repeats  her  sacred  vows, 
While  Truth  enwreathes  the  lips  we  kiss 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

And  virtue  crowns  the  saintly  brows. 
And  thus  eternal  Cycles  run, 

While  God's  kind  care  to  all  is  given, 
And  each  pure  life  on  Earth  begun 

Is  laying  treasures  up  in  Heaven. 


THE  MUSIC  OF  LIFE 

A  whole  universe  rife 

With  the  music  of  life, 
From  a  globule  of  dew  distilling  at  even, 

To  majestical  bars 

Of  the  many-hued  stars, 

In    their    merry    dance    through    the    mazes    of 
Heaven ; 

The  soft  lapping  of  waves, 

Where  the  ocean-tide  laves, 
The  silvery  sands,  at  the  feet  of  the  mountains ; 

And  the  patter  and  plash, 

Where  the  cool  waters  dash 
Afresh  from  the  heart  of  the  half-hidden  foun- 
tains. 

90 


THE   MUSIC   OF   LIFE 

And  the  deep  liquid  roll, 
(Like  the  voice  of  the  soul) 
That  e'er  rises   from  the  broad   mountain-born 
river, 

Where  it  blushes  with  shame, 
Or  it  blossoms  to  flame, 

Pierced  with  bright  arrows  from  the  sun's  golden 
quiver. 

And  when  cloud-armies  hurled 

Their  pent  wrath  on  the  world, 
With  wild,  screaming  winds,  and  the  loud  roll- 
ing thunder, 

We  were  filled  with  deep  awe 

Of  life's  musical  law. 
By  Nature  unrolled  in  a  song  of  such  wonder. 

And  no  words  can  describe 

The  sweet  songs  that  abide 
In    the    wild    woodlands    with    their    uncounted 
choirs, 

Where  the  bird-notes  combine 

With   the   Aeolian   pine, 
And  rhythmical  swaying  of  emerald  spires ; 

The  low  humming  of  bees, 

91 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

In  the  blossoming  trees, 

Or  down  in  the  heart  of  the  sweet-scented  clover  ; 
The  soft  whirring  of  wings, 
Like  unnumbered  harp  strings, 

Or  rapturous  sigh  of  a  passionate  lover. 

These  are  some  of  the  chimes 

And  the  natural  rhymes 
That  mankind  in  the  mundane  life  doth  inherit ; 

But  there  are  songs  more  sweet, 

Far  more  full  and  complete, 
That  truly  belong  to  the  kingdom  of  spirit — 

Aye!  the  clasp  of  a  hand, 

Like  a  fair  Fairy's  wand, 
Or  the  masterful  touch  of  a  mighty  musician 

May  wake  hearts'  crimson  keys 

To  Love'  sweet  melodies, 
That  can  never  be  silenced  by  any  magician! 

The  soft  glance  of  an  eye, 

Hath  oft  given  reply, 

To   some   question   that   swayed   our   innermost 
being, 

And  the  smile-light  that  caught 

On  the  crest  of  our  thought 
Has  a  pure  praise-note  to  the  eye  All-seeing! 

92 


THE   MUSIC   OF   LIFE 

And  no  song  can  compare 

With  the  penitent's  prayer, 

As  swift  from  the  heart's  haunted  chambers  out- 
pouring. 

Straight  heavenward  it  springs, 

On  sweet  hope's  shining  wings, 
E'en  to  the  presence  of  rejoicing  Saints  soaring 

No  power  may  translate 

From  the  soul's  rich  estate, 
The  full  meaning  of  all  these  wonderful  meas- 
ures ; 

But  when  love  conquers  strife, 

The  glad  music  of  life 
Shall  yield  to  our  spirits  its  manifold  treasures 


93 


EVANGELINE 

Where  is  the  soul  of  my  beautiful  sleeper 
With  the  still,  waxen  form  and  snowy  white 

face? 
Are  her  dreams   disturbed  by  the  lone-hearted 

weeper 
Who  tearfully  bends  o'er  her  low  resting-place  ? 

Into  whose  eyes  are  her  sunny  smiles  shining? 

Over  whose  spirit  is  her  glory-light  shed? 
Around  whose  neck  are  her  baby-arms  twining. 

Upon    whose   bosom    rests    her    dear,    golden 
head? 

Oh,  where  is  the  land  that  echoes  her  laughter, 
What  heart  was  made  glad  by  my  Angel's  new 

birth? 
Will    white    winged    thoughts    my    mother-love 

waft  her, 
And  woo  her  again  to  the  sorrowful  Earth  ? 

Is  her  home  so  bright  she  never  can  miss  me, 
And  call  for  me  down  through  the  aisles  of 
the  air? 

94 


EVANGELINE 

Will  she  never  come  and  tenderly  kiss  me, 

When  my  spirit  is  bowed  by  grief  and  despair  ? 

And  when  the  still  sky  is  filled  with  star  splen- 
dor, 

And  soft  shadows  over  the  Summerland  creep, 
Does  some  angel  breast,  with  mother-love  tender, 

Give  my  darling  repose  and  rock  her  to  sleep? 

Dear  God !    Thy  ministering  spirits  are  near  me, 
To  answer  the  questions  that  make  my  heart 

sore! 
Through  the  voice  of  my  soul  their  whisperings 

cheer  me 

And  bring  me  sweet  comfort  from  life's  Ever- 
more ! 

"Free  is  the  soul  of  thy  beautiful  Sleeper, 

And   fair  are  the  visions  that  dawn  on   her 

sight ; 

Unknown  to  the  woes  of  earth  we  will  keep  her, 
Unharmed  by  its  sickness,  untouched  by  its 
blight. 

''Sweeter  to  us  j-5:  he./  musical  laughter 

Than  harp-tones  or  hymns  in  our  Star-home 
above ; 

95 


SONG   AND  SERMON 

More  sacred  to  thee  thy  spirit's  Hereafter 
Since  Death  hath  there  planted  thy  Blossom 
of  Love. 

"And  oft  we  will  bring  thy  precious  Evengel 
A  ministering  spirit  to  loved  ones  below, 

Till  free  like  herself,  Life's  imprisoned  angel 
Shall  climb  to  the  heights  where  her  sunny 
smiles  glow. 

"Conceived  in  prayer  and  born  as  a  blessing, 
She  belonged  not  to  Earth,  but  loaned  for  a 
time, 

All  the  good  in  thy  soul  sweetly  expressing, 
Then  smilingly  soared  to  her  own  native  clime." 


95 


SOUL  QUESTIONINGS 

"Where  is  God?"  proud  Reason  cries; 

"Everywhere!"  the  Soul  replies. 

He  is  near  and  He  is  far, 

Throned  in  atom,  sun,  and  star ; 

Infinite    Intelligence 

Manifest  through  things  of  sense, 

Felt  in  every  breath  we  draw, 

Seen  in  universal  law, 

Heard  in  music  of  the  spheres 

And  the  silent  march  of  years ; 

Loved  in  justice,  virtue,  truth, 

Free  from  any  shade  of  ruth, 

Found  in  Nature's  perfect  plan, 

Served  when  man  serves  fellow-man! 

Where  is  Heaven,  that  fair  goal 
Of  the  ever-striving  Soul? 
By  what  path  may  we  ascend 
To  the   joys   that   never   end? 
When  shall  cease  this  eager  quest 
After  peace  and  perfect  rest? 
Soul!  in  thee  that  pure  estate 
Is  enshrined,  secure  as  fate ; 

97 


SONG   AND  SERMON 

Its  white  light  locked  in  thy  breast, 
Love  the  power  at  whose  behest 
Barriers  melt,  walls  give  way, 
Night  departs  and  dawns  the  day! 
Love  keeps  bright  our  hearth-stone  fires, 
Changes  lust  to  pure  desires, 
Disarms  hate  and  ends  all  strife, 
Defies  Death,  transfigures  Life. 
Nobly  borne,  our  griefs  e'en  bring 
Sweetest  joys,  as  gentle  Spring 
Brightest  blooms  from  winter's  snow, — 
Thro'  toil  and  strain  we  stronger  grow. 
Work,  not  idleness,  brings  rest, 
Blest  are  we  when  we  have  blest. 

What  is  Death?  that  fearful  change 
Making  dearest  faces  strange; 
Life's  shadow,  love's  wildest  woe 
Ever  our  relentless  foe, 
Blighting  all  things  by  its  breath. 
Is  God  good  while  Death  is  Death? 
Doubting  one,  lift  up  thine  eyes ! 
Death  is  but  a  glad  surprise 
Waking  us  from  troubled  dreams 
To   a   cloudless   morning's   beams! 

98 


SOUL   QUESTIONINGS 

Seeming  death  is  higher  birth. 
Cradled  here  by  Mother  Earth, 
We  learn  Nature's  nursery  rhymes 
Till  grown  ripe  for  grander  chimes 
That  from  Spirit's  starry  keys 
Sing  of  life's  eternities. 
Here  our  teachers,  Toil  and  Pain, 
Want  and  Weal,  make  problems  plain; 
Here  in  forms  of  matter  dressed 
Truths  of  spirit  are  expressed; 
Here  through  hope,  love,  and  regret 
Do  we  learn  life's  alphabet. 
Then  doth  come  Death's  snowy  kiss, 
Hushing  hearts  to  quiet  bliss, 
Like  the  sleep  of  chrysalis 
E'er  unfurled  the  shining  wing, 
Then  with  sudden,  joyous  spring 
Up  our  quickened  powers  soar 
Faint  and  weary  nevermore! 

Deep  on  deep,  and  height  on  height, 
Opens  to  the  wondering  sight; 
Dear  ones  whom  we  thought  had  died, 
Safe  and  smiling,  glorified! 
Something  still  for  us  to  do, 

99 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Wisdom's  ways  free  to  pursue, 
Still  ahead  some  shining  goal, 
God  and  Heaven  in  the  Soul ! 


THE  VOICE  OF  GOD 

The  Voice  of  God?    We  hear  its  roll 
Through  every  tumult  of  the  air, 

And  in  the  veiled,  secret  soul, 
That  kneels  in  ecstacy  of  prayer. 

It  pealed   in   every   trumpet-blast, 

That  marshalled  Freedom's  mailed  host, 

That  fought  the  battles  of  the  past, 
And  won  the  vantage-ground  we  boast. 

It   trembles   in   the  victim's   cry, 

When  lust  betrays  young  Innocence, 

And  struggles  in  the  stifled  sigh 
That  calls   for  chivalric  defense. 

100 


THE    VOICE   OF   GOD 

It  mutters  in  the  discontent, 
That  threatens  throned  tyrrany, 

And  warns  the  evil  government 
That  wastes  its  blood  and  treasury. 

It  sings  through  every   Marseillaise 
That  bubbles  from  the  people's  breast, 

And   ripples   through   America's 

Great  hymn,  which  freemen  love  the  best. 

'Tis  heard  from  all  the  feathered  throats 
That  chant  a  welcome  to  the  Spring; 

Through  leafy  forest-aisles  it  floats, 
Life's  tender  love-thoughts  whispering. 

From  battling  clouds,  its  cannon-tones 
Unite  with  rhythms  of  the  sea, 

And  sweep  through  iris-tinted  zones 
In  Nature's  color-symphony! 

It  thunders  in  the  people's  wrath, 
When  greed  becomes  too  over-bold, 

And  summons   Heaven's  aftermath, 
When  honor  is  exchanged  for  gold. 

101 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

It  rides  the  whirlwinds  of  defeat, 
When  craft  and  cruelty  make  war, 

And  pours  glad  peans  forth  to  greet 
Humanity's  ascending  star. 

It  pleads  in  woman's  silent  tears, 
And  little  children's  plaintive  wail, 

And  comforts  every  heart  that  hears 
The  promises  that  shall  not  fail. 

It   speaks    in   every   prophet-tongue, 
Foretelling  triumphs  for  the  right, 

And  in  the  truths  by  poets  sung, 
That  hasten  on  the  Age  of  Light. 

It  breathes  in  golden  silences, 

When  souls  are  borne  to  realms  above, 
And  solves,  at  last,   life's  mysteries, 

This  voice  of  God ;  true  voice  of  Love ! 


102 


LINES 

The  tempest-twisted  Oak  strikes  deeper  root 
Than  sheltered  shrub;  and  flowers  bloom 

The  brighter  for  their  wintry  sleep;  life's  fruit 
Is  never  ripe  this  side  the  tomb! 

With  bleeding  feet  we  press  life's  up-hill  way 

To  shining  levels  that  await; 
And   cooling   streams,   and   the   light   of   love's 
long  day, 

And  clasping  hands  beyond  death's  gate! 

Life's  pattern  is  too  large  for  us  to  see 
Its  perfect  beauty  from  lowlands  here 

Of  finite  sense,  it  fills  Eternity — 

God  alone  can  make  its  meaning  clear! 


103 


INVOCATION 

Spirit  of  the  universe,  Thou  source  of  all 
life  and  joy,  Thou  who  doest  pervade  eternity, — 
the  years  that  are  gone  have  recorded  Thine  act 
and  fulfilled  Thy  law.  The  hour  in  which  we 
now  live  is  glowing  with  Thy  presence,  the 
future  is  also  Thine,  surcharged  with  fire  of  the 
spirit  and  the  glory  of  eternal  truth,  brooding 
and  beckoning  us  ever  onward  and  upward, — 
we  thank  Thee  for  the  soul-blossoming,  and  the 
ripening  of  spiritual  fruits  in  past  time;  for  that 
law  through  which  are  wrought  miracles  of 
beauty  and  joy  ;  for  that  law  which  has  been  mani- 
fested throughout  all  time,  and  which  glows  in 
human  spirits  with  unspeakable  softness,  mold- 
ing life,  tempering  its  sorrows,  and  thrilling  us 
with  the  thought  of  Thy  presence,  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  soul's  immortality.  We  thank  Thee 
for  that  eternal  justice  which  shall  reign  through- 
out the  ages  and  crown  with  success  every  hu- 
man effort  for  good,  and  meet  to  every  soul  its 
dues.  Thou  seest  Thy  children  in  their  present 
stage  of  growth,  full  of  yearnings  and  prophecies 
that  the  future  must  fulfil ;  and  Thou  knowest 

104 


INVOCATION 

how  we  grope  after  the  light,  even  though  the 
light  is  in  our  midst,  since  we  have  not  the 
perception  to  behold  it.  O,  quicken  our  con- 
sciousness that  we  may  perceive  the  bounteous 
gifts  of  this  hour,  and  fill  our  souls  with  grati- 
tude. We  thank  Thee,  Divine  Spirit,  for  the 
year  that  is  just  dead ;  for  its  joys, — for  the 
splendors  it  has  achieved,  for  the  inspiration  with 
which  it  was  endowed,  for  the  consolation  that 
came  through  its  ministration,  for  the  peace  that 
came  into  each  and  every  human  heart  with  its 
holy  whisperings  of  faith.  O,  may  we  in  view- 
ing the  past  learn  divine  lessons,  and  be  filled 
with  gratitude  in  the  contemplation  of  the  golden 
Now;  may  we  see  how  rich  we  are  in  oppor- 
tunity. O  Divine  Spirit,  to  the  weak  send  the 
angels  of  power,  that  the  New  Year  just  open- 
ing its  lessons  may  be  enriched  and  glorified 
to  us.  O,  may  those  who,  to-night,  stand  upon 
the  brink  of  spiritual  darkness,  feel  the  staying 
hand  of  the  angel  of  light  that  shall  lead  them 
into  the  broad  and  sacred  paths  of  virtue  and 
peace;  may  those  who  sit  clothed  in  sad  mem- 
ories, born  of  the  past  year,  become  illuminated 
that  they  may  learn  the  significance  of  sorrow 

105 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

to  their  souls  and  understand  the  heirogliphics 
which  the  year  has  engraven  upon  the  spirit's 
tablets.  O,  decipher  for  us  their  meaning — 
translate  this  shining  lettering  upon  the  face  of 
the  present  that  we  may  not  mistake  our  way. 
Guard  and  guide  us  by  the  tender  love  of  those 
gone  on  before.  We  thank  Thee  for  their  mes- 
sages of  hope  and  encouragement.  We  thank 
Thee  for  the  instruments  Thou  hast  raised  up 
to  do  noble  service  for  the  freedom  of  human 
souls.  We  pray  Thee,  if  it  be  possible,  that  in 
the  future  where  the  earth  has  been  steeped  in 
human  blood,  the  blossoms  of  peace  may  spring, 
and  teach  men  how  divine  a  thing  is  sweet  fra- 
ternity. O,  wipe  from  the  eyes  of  the  mourning 
the  falling  tears;  whisper  into  the  ears  of  the 
discouraged — hope,  and  bathe  us  in  the  spirit- 
light  of  a  new  revelation,  such  as  shall  unfold 
to  us  the  glorious  possibility  of  the  least  in 
Thy  kingdom,  and  the  joy  that  awaiteth  the 
faithful. 


106 


HOPE'S  MESSAGE 

Out  of  the  Winter  cometh  the  Spring, 
After  long  resting  spreads  the  strong  wing. 
After  cold  silence  happy  birds  sing, 

And  flower-lips  smile  back  to  the  sun ; 
Out  of  the  darkness  into  the  light, 
Away  from  old  wrongs  hastens  the  Right, 
Out  of  Hate's  weakness  into  Love's  might, 

Thus  do  the  New  Year's  glad  rhythms  run ! 

Lean  out  and  harken ;  over  the  hills 
Thunders  the  ocean!  its  deep  voice  thrills 
Like  touch  of  the  Infinite  who  wills 

The  flight  of  planets,  the  birth  of  all  souls! 
Lean  out  and  listen;  everywhere 
Is  life's  wild  tumult  lashing  the  air! 
Now  it  is  cursing,  then  it  is  prayer, — 

And  high  over  all  Wisdom  controls. 

Fast-fading  splendors  down  in  the  west, 
Lengthening  shadows  over  Earth's  breast, — 
Yet  Sunrise,  somewhere,  keeps  her  still  blest 

107 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

And  morning  glories  crimson  her  sky ; 
Faces  vanishing  every  day; 
Lonely,  so  lonely,  life's  up-hill  way, 
Yet  who  the  heaven-ward  march  would  stay 

When  we  know  that  Love  keeps  guard  close  by  ? 


TRUE    LOVE 

Love   knows   no   change  but  this, 
Ever   to   grow   in   bliss 

As  the  years  go  rolling  by ; 
And  when  its  flowers  have  fled 
The  ripe  grain  waves  instead, 

Food  for  our   souls  on  high. 

And  Love  is  never  free, 
But  e'er  in   unity 

With  highest  Law  it  moves ; 
Quenched  are  unholy  fires, 
And  dead  all  gross  desires, 

In  him  who  truly  loves. 

108 


TRAILING    ARBUTUS 

And  Love  can  never  die, 
In-linking  the  "You  and  I" 

Through  all  the  bright  To  Come, 
Its  sacred  altars  shine 
Among  the  stars,  divine, 

Making  our  soul's  true  home. 


TRAILING  ARBUTUS 

Where'er  dew  and  sunshine  have  wrought 
Their  marvels  of  tints  and  perfume 

There  lieth  impearled  a  sweet  Thought, 
Like  a   Soul  embodied  in  bloom. 

And  when  Winter  his  white  hand  lifts 
From  the  lips  of  flowers  I  love, 

There's  a  voiceful  murmur  that  drifts 
O'er  every  meadow  and  grove. 

And  when  I  go  early  to  meet 

These  fair-mantled  comers  of  Spring, 
I  find  on  the  rocks  at  my  feet 

The   daintiest,   shiest,   wee   thing 

109 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

That  ever  fair  April  let  fall 

'Mid  the  wealth  of  her  jewelled  showers, 
The  bravest  and  sweetest  of  all 

Her  wondrous  boquet  of  flowers. 

The  Trailing  Arbutus,  e'er  sought 
'Mong  mosses  and  mantling  leaves, 

Holding  to  her  pink  heart  the  thought 
That  only  true  patience  conceives. 

For  months  did  she  silently  hold 
Sweet  hopes  in  the  bud  of  her  breast. 

The  wealth  of  her  perfume  untold, 
The  tints  of  her  beauty  unguessed. 

The  clouds  brought  her  burdens  of  snow. 
And  bitter  rains  beat  her  bowed  head, 

Still  stronger  did  the  brown  buds  grow 
And  farther  the  soft  tendrils  spread, 

Until  to  her  solitude  came 

The  sound  of  hushed  foot-falls  above ; 
'Twas  the  Sunbeams  with  lances  of  flame 

Bringing  gifts  of  beauty  and  love. 

110 


TO    THE    KING'S  DAUGHTERS 

Then  straightway  the  wind-spirits  caught 
The  Soul  she  was  ready  to  give, 

And  softly  repeated  her  thought, — 

"Be  patient  and  brave  while  you  live." 


TO  THE  KING'S  DAUGHTERS 

The  harp  of  love  hath  many  strings 
And  needs  the  touch  of  master  hands, 

Though  every  soul  in  secret  sings 
In  strains  God  only  understands. 

I  fain  would  chant  of  circles  old, 
In  boundless  realms  of  blue,  above 

Whose  ever-radiant  members  hold 
An  endless  festival  of  love. 

Far  through  the  spaces  infinite 

They  send  their  gifts  of  beauty  rare, 

On  waves  of  never-fading  light, 
That  all  the  universe  may  share. 

Ill 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

In   circles   dance  the  silver   stars, 
In  circles  wheel  the  golden  suns. 

In  circles  weave  the  rainbow  bars, 
In  circles  Life's  swift  river  runs! 

And  one  of  many  Circles,  we 

With  kindling  eye  and  smiling  lip, 

Oft  celebrate  rejoicingly 

Sweet  days  of  loving  fellowship. 

And  each  recalls  the  happy  hours, 
When  leaving  common,  daily  care, 

We  gathered  up  our  thoughts  and  flowers 
And  bore  them  to  our  Circle  fair 

And  felt  our  burdens  strangely  lift 
As  one  by  one  the  little  band 

Exchanged  with  us  love's  greetings  swift, 
By  glance  of  eye  or  touch  of  hand. 

With  mirth  and  music  have  we  met, 
And  when  Death's  silent  shadow  fell, 

With   mingled  tears   of   sad   regret 
Together  whispered  our   "Farewell." 

112 


TO    THE    KING'S    DAUGHTERS. 

And  ever  as  the  years  sweep  by, 

More  brightly  burns  love's  sacred  flame, 

And  stronger  grows  the  blessed  tie 

That  makes  us  workers  "In  His  name." 

O,  may  our  power  for  good  increase, 
And  each  succeeding  cycle  bring 

Fresh  blessings  of  His  love  and  peace 
To  every  daughter  of  the  King! 


113 


AMERICA. 

America!  we  hail  thee  as  the  hope  of  all  the 

world ! 
The   stars   in   growing  number   on  thy  banner 

bright  unfurled 

Are  the  shining  letters  of  the  grandest  prophecy 
That  ever  thrilled  the  hearts  of  men  longing  to 

be  free ! 

O,  land  of  matchless  rivers  and  mighty  mountain 

chains, 
Of  countless  virgin  acres  in  valleys,  hills,  and 

plains, 
0,  promise  land  of  plenty  to  the  poor  of  every 

clime, 
Thou  are  the  choicest  jewel  in  the  crown  of 

Father  Time! 

Yet  thy  Past  is  but  a  span,  so  very  young  thou 

art, 

But  still  it  proved  thy  power  and  royalty  of  heart, 
And  precious  blood-baptisms   and   trials   as  by 

fire 
Have  made  thy  soil  thrice  sacred  and  led  the 

nations  higher. 

114 


AMERICA 

Unto  thy  clear-eyed  genius  have  land  and  sea 
and  air 

Delivered  up  their  treasures  to  scatter  every- 
where, 

Till  the  wildest  elements  by  thee  are  tamed  and 
taught 

To  bear  man's  countless  burdens  and  gird  the 
world  with  thought. 

But  more  than  all  the  splendors  of  all  the  stars 

above 
Will  be  the  reign  of  justice,  good-fellowship,  and 

love, 
When   man   meets   man   as   brother  and   selfish 

hoardings  cease, 
When  war  and  hate  are  ended  and  the  Nation 

studies  peace. 

O,  fair  America,  to  thy  future  now  we  turn 

In  anxious,  prayerful  waiting,  while  hearts  with 

high  hopes  burn, 
To   see   thee   wisely   perfect   the   blessed    work 

begun, 
And  make  glad  this  Century  by  deeds  of  justice 

done. 

115 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Build  thou  a  true  Republic,  the  noblest  of  the 

earth, 
Where  men  with  equal  rights  will  strive  for  equal 

worth, 
Where  no  race,  nor  creed,  nor  station,  shall  lie 

beneath  a  ban, 
And  even  frailest  woman  may  have  equal  chance 

with  man! 

Dethrone  the  false  god  Mammon,  abolish  selfish 

wars, 
Share  Nature's  bounties  freely  as  light  of  sons 

and  stars! 
Let  the  crimson  flag  of  War   forevermore  be 

furled, 
That  Liberty  and  Peace  may  enlighten  all  the 

world ! 


116 


FROM  ADAM   TO  ANGEL. 


A  Lecture  Delivered  at  Metropolitan  Temple, 
San  Francisco,  Sunday  Evening,  November 
29,  1885. 


It  has  been  said  that  "Dead  men  tell  no  tales," 
but  if  one  might  tell  the  story  of  human  progress 
from  Adam,  the  first  man,  to  the  angel,  or  per- 
fected spirit,  it  would  be  a  very  long  story.  If  the 
history  of  this  progress  were  written,  all  the 
volumes  in  all  the  libraries  of  the  world  could  be 
duplicated  in  number  and  in  size. 

We  must  start  out  with  the  affirmation  of  the 
great  Leibnitz  that  "Logical  truth  is  equivalent  to 
actual  truth;  rational  possibility  is  necessarily 
reality;  ideas  are  identical  with  things."  When 
we  speak  of  creation  we  use  the  term  relatively ; 
there  was  never  anything  created;  nothing  has 
ever  been  taken  from  or  added  to  the  sum  total  of 
life,  and  never  will  be. 

In  the  Genesaic  record  it  is  stated  that  after 
God  made  everything,  on  the  seventh  day  He 

119 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

rested  from  His  work.  Now,  so  far  as  we  know, 
there  never  was  a  day  of  rest  for  God,  and  crea- 
tion was  never  finished.  We  look  upon  the 
solemn  splendors  of  the  heavens  which  to  our 
finite  gaze  appear  ever  the  same,  and  we  say: 
"The  heavens  are  perfect;  there  can  be  nothing 
added  to  their  glories ;  these  activities  which  to 
our  consciousness  make  no  sound  are  perpetually 
the  same;  the  golden  keys  of  this  magnificent  in- 
strument ever  yield  the  same  harmonies,  there 
are  no  variations."  We  are  mistaken;  the  very 
heavens  are  still  in  process  of  making,  and  as  for 
the  earth,  we  know  this  is  true.  Everything 
which  we  can  observe  is  undergoing  changes 
which  we  note  are  from  the  simple  toward  the 
complex. 

Leibnitz  maintains  that  all  monads  contain  an 
inherent,  inward  energy  by  which  they  develop 
themselves  spontaneously,  and  are,  properly 
speaking,  soul.  We  must  agree  with  Leibnitz  in 
this  particular — in  all  the  evolutions  of  life  there 
has  been  no  increase  of  either  matter  or  spirit. 
What  we  call  life  and  death,  organization  and  dis- 
integration, is  simply  re-formation  in  the  realm  of 
both  matter  and  spirit.  I  say  matter  and  spirit, 
and  yet  we  know  that  when  we  have  reduced 

120 


FROM  ADAM  TO  ANGEL 

matter  to  its  last  analysis  it  becomes  force  or 
spirit.  Matter  is  infinitely  divisible,  and  when 
we  come  to  the  last  divisibility  which  we  can 
cognize  it  becomes  a  force  invisible  and  finite 
mind  cannot  conceive  of  that  condition  of  matter 
which  we  call  an  atom.  It  is  only  by  observing 
the  combination  of  these  atoms,  the  phenomena  of 
life  as  exhibited  to  our  senses,  that  we  know  any- 
thing of  their  nature.  By  observing  the  atoms  in 
their  combinations,  and  tracing  them  backward 
to  the  first  form  of  life  that  appeared  upon  the 
planet  we  find  it  a  simple  substance,  a  cellular 
tissue,  forming  the  actual  basis  of  all  organic  ex- 
istence. From  protoplasm  we  advance  by  slow 
degrees  to  the  realm  of  volition. 

The  history  of  the  earth  and  of  mankind  upon 
the  planet  as  conceived  by  the  majority  of  men 
in  past  ages  is  utterly  opposed  to  modern  scien- 
tific facts  and  theories.  We  are  compelled  to  dis- 
miss the  theory  of  creation  as  theologically  stated. 
The  six  days  in  which  God  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  and  all  that  they  contain,  crowning 
His  work  with  man  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  We 
find  in  the  infallible  book  of  Nature  evidences  of 
vast  stretches  of  time  between  the  laying  of  the 
foundations  of  organized  life  and  the  final  ap- 

121 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

pearance  of  man.  For  the  confirmation  of  this 
fact  we  point  to  the  processes  of  world-formations 
going  on  in  the  sidereal  heavens.  Already  the  as- 
tronomer has  resolved  the  nebulous  clouds  into 
systems  which  are  analogous  to  our  own.  Spec- 
trum analysis  has  proven  the  unity  which  exists 
between  all  worlds;  that  there  is  a  similarity  in 
the  substances  which  compose  the  members  of  our 
own  and  other  solar  systems.  In  other  words,  as 
Alexander  von  Humboldt  declares,  "The  universe 
is  governed  by  immutable  law."  By  slow  and 
patient  study  that  great  soul  untangled  the  skein  of 
existence  until  he  deciphered  the  fact  that  life  is  a 
unit,  that  the  same  principles  obtain  in  all  forms 
of  being,  and  that  it  was  by  progressive  steps  that 
the  earth  was  prepared  for  even  the  lowest  forms 
of  animal  existence. 

And  now  the  question  arises  (and  we  can 
give  but  a  cursory  glance  at  this  inexhaustible 
subject),  What  is  meant  by  the  word  "creation"? 
In  what  portion  of  the  universe  is  enshrined  the 
source  of  life,  and  what  was  it  that  first  projected 
forms  into  existence  ?  Upon  what  are  these  forms 
dependent,  and  what  was  their  origin  ?  We  go  back 
to  Leibnitz  and  declare  that  every  atom  is  a  soul ; 
that  inhering  in  all  substances  is  the  soul-princi- 

122 


FROM  ADAM  TO  ANGEL 

pie,  and  that  by  the  combination  of  these  forces 
the  first  organisms  appeared  upon  the  planet; 
that  organization  and  dissolution  are  the  pro- 
cesses by  which  are  evolved  the  highest  expres- 
sions of  Divine  Will.  Through  these  changes 
the  atomic  soul  climbs  upward  into  intelligent, 
individual,  conscious  identity,  the  atomic  soul 
possessing  perception  but  not  consciousness.  That 
which  we  call  law  is  universal  intelligence;  for 
instance,  the  crystals  form  themselves  intelli- 
gently. If  you  have  visited  the  chemist's  labora- 
tory you  may  have  observed  how  the  elements  in 
different  combinations,  each  mathematically  pre- 
cise, form  new  substances;  like  causes  producing 
forevermore  like  results. 

We  trace  backward  the  activities  of  the  spirit, 
and  find  that  the  fire-mist  from  which  the  world 
was  at  first  evolved  contained  all  the  forces  which 
are  manifest  in  life  to-day — vegetable,  animal, 
human  and  spiritual.  The  primal  soul  began  its 
work  down  in  the  very  structure  of  the  world 
prior  to  all  organic  existence. 

While  we  may  not  endorse  in  its  entirety  the 
"Darwinian  theory,"  we  do  most  assuredly  en- 
dorse the  idea  of  evolution  as  admirably  illus- 
trated by  that  great  man. 

123 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

By  the  combination  of  spiritual  forces  (and  all 
forces  are  spiritual),  an  infinite  variety  of  forms 
were  projected. 

While  man's  origin  may  not  be  traced  to  any 
particular  animal,  we  believe  the  soul-presence  in 
the  world  to-day  is  the  result  of  all  the  organiza- 
tions and  activities  of  the  past,  and  by  association 
these  original  atom-souls  have  become  identical 
with  human  consciousness.  But  to  entertain  this 
thought  we  must  allow  for  creation  an  almost  in- 
finite period  of  time.  It  is  impossible  for  us  in 
one,  or  even  many  generations,  to  see  any  trans- 
formations of  species;  by  repeated  experiments 
with  animals  very  marked  modifications  have  been 
produced.  But  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  imagine, 
without  allowing  an  immense  period  of  time,  the 
monad  transformed  into  animal  life ;  and  quite  as 
impossible  for  us  to  imagine  the  four-footed 
beasts  transformed  into  the  upright,  thinking, 
moral  and  religious  human  being;  and  yet  it  has 
been  aptly  remarked  that  the  chasm  between  the 
ape  and  the  Australian  bushmen  is  not  so  difficult 
to  bridge  as  that  between  the  bushmen  and  a 
Shakespeare  or  a  Bacon — we  can  as  readily  con- 
ceive of  the  one  as  the  other.  In  this  lowest 
human  type  we  observe  those  traits  which  may 

124 


FROM  ADAM  TO  ANGEL 

possibly  develop  into  the  qualities  of  the  highest 
type.  We  can  also  trace  in  the  highest  animal 
type  many  of  the  human  traits.  In  the  bony  struc- 
ture we  see  many  indices  pointing  toward  higher 
development.  But  it  is  only  by  spanning  an  im- 
mense period  of  time,  and  studying  the  fossil  re- 
mains of  extinct  species  that  we  are  able  to  trace 
the  development  from  simple  to  complex  forms, 
the  zoophyte  transformed  into  the  mollusk,  the 
mollusk  to  vertebrate,  vertebrate  to  mammal,  and 
thus  finally  "from  monad  to  man." 

The  materialist  objects  to  the  idea  of  immor- 
tality for  human  souls  on  the  ground  that  if  we 
go  on  propagating  our  species  the  time  will  come 
when  the  universe  will  be  overcrowded — the  Mal- 
thusian  theory  carried  over  into  the  spirit  world ; 
there  is  not  room  enough  in  God's  universe  for  all 
the  souls  that  might  be  created!  This  objection 
may  be  met  by  a  very  simple  illustration.  Here 
is  a  pint  of  water;  one  portion  we  will  leave  in 
its  liquid  state,  another  we  will  convert  into  its 
gaseous  elements,  and  still  another  we  will  ex- 
pand into  vapor.  In  doing  this  we  have  not  de- 
stroyed a  single  atom  of  our  pint  of  water,  and 
although  we  converted  two  parts  into  new  forces, 
we  have  not  in  anywise  added  to  the  sum  of 

125 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

simple  substances  which  first  composed  the  water. 
So  it  is  with  life  in  all  of  its  forms;  if  in  the 
process  of  what  we  call  living  we  convert  the 
grosser  substances  into  sublimated  matter,  we 
have  not  necessarily  added  to  the  volume  of  mat- 
ter in  the  universe;  we  have  simply  transposed 
these  atoms,  giving  them  new  relationships  and 
new  activities.  So,  as  I  have  said,  creation  is  a 
misnomer;  but  re-formation  is  forever  taking 
place. 

What  is  life  and  what  is  soul?  Whence  did 
they  originate?  What  is  consciousness?  These 
are  great  questions. 

Life  is  that  all-permeating  essence  from  which 
no  substance  can  escape ;  it  is  co-eternal  with  God. 
It  is  related  to  and  governed  by  law,  and  in  its  first 
form  and  last  analysis  it  is  intelligence. 

What  is  it  that  enables  the  particles  which 
constitute  the  lily  to  so  combine  and  arrange 
themselves  as  forever  to  present  the  same  appear- 
ance ?  I  reply,  they  are  intelligent ;  they  may  not 
consciously  work,  but  they  are  related  to  the 
universal  life,  are  governed  by  a  law  of  intelli- 
gence. What  we  call  law  in  the  realm  of  nature 
is  simply  what  the  Spiritualist  and  Religionist 
may  call  God.  It  is  that  perception  which  resides 

126 


FROM  ADAM  TO  ANGEL 

in  every  atom  of  matter,  causing  it  to  arrange 
itself  with  such  perfection  and  harmony,  such 
mathematical  precision  as  is  manifest  in  the  min- 
eral, vegetable  and  animal  kingdom.  What  we 
call  man's  soul  is  simply  the  result  of  all  these 
progressive  steps  of  creation,  from  the  monad  to 
spiritual  consciousness;  the  result  of  the  intelli- 
gent combination,  the  relationship  existing  be- 
tween the  atoms  which  are  governed  by  a  law  in- 
herent in  each.  Thus  the  history  of  man,  when 
it  is  written,  will  be  the  history  of  the  world.  And 
man's  being  is  a  sufficient  reason  for  all  that  has 
preceded  him.  His  development  has  been  the 
liberation  and  new  arrangement  of  spiritual  forces 
eternally  existent.  Therefore  the  origin  of  man 
and  the  material  universe  are  identical,  what  we 
call  matter  and  spirit  playing  together  in  infinite 
harmony,  producing  the  beautiful  and  varied 
changes  throughout  the  realm  of  life. 

It  has  been  said  that  in  every  human  con- 
sciousness there  lingers  a  faint  memory  of  Eden 
— innocence — and  that  the  Golden  Age  in  which 
man  once  lived  has  left  somewhat  of  its  glitter  in 
the  soul ;  a  fragrant  flower  of  memory.  And  in  a 
certain  sense  this  is  true;  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
where  every  human  consciousness  is  born,  is  the 

127 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Soul's  sweet  day  of  innocence  which  antedates 
the  first  act  of  conscious  wrong.  Therefore  the 
fall  of  man,  considered  in  this  light,  and  in  a 
certain  sense,  is  a  literal  fact.  But  humanity  as 
a  whole  never  before  enjoyed  such  freedom  from 
sinfulness,  such  purity,  as  it  enjoys  to-day;  and 
every  re-combination  of  matter,  every  organiza- 
tion builded  anew  in  the  world,  has  a  tendency  to 
prepare  for  further  dreams  of  beauty  and  give 
to  life  a  still  brighter  glow ;  the  Golden  Age  is 
yet  to  be  realized ;  it  is  a  future  possibility ;  it  is 
a  promise  toward  the  fulfillment  of  which  we  are 
daily  tending. 

There  is  constantly  going  on  in  the  organic 
world  refining  processes ;  from  the  basis  of  crea- 
tion in  the  electric  fluids  to  the  present  time  there 
has  been  a  perpetual  preparation  for  still  higher 
forms  of  life.  The  Adamic  man  dates  back  of  all 
history,  even  beyond  the  discovered  fossil  re- 
mains of  extinct  species  of  animal  forms.  But 
the  journey  has  been  forward  all  the  way,  through 
every  form  of  matter,  from  mollusk  to  mammal, 
on  and  up  to  the  present  period ;  link  by  link  this 
perfect  chain  has  been  formed  until  it  can  truly 
be  said  that  man  is  a  microcosm,  the  epitome  of 
the  universe.  In  other  words,  this  deathless  soul 

128 


FROM  ADAM  TO  ANGEL 

resident  in  the  invisible  atom  has  traveled  upward 
through  all  these  forms  to  the  present  time,  bear- 
ing with  it  the  results  of  the  struggles  of  the 
ages  and  combining  in  its  present  consciousness 
all  the  activities  of  bygone  centuries.  So  that  to- 
day your  bodies  are  truly  the  outgrowth  of  bodies 
long  extinct.  Your  senses  are  the  manifestation 
of  soul-forces  which  have  undergone  innumerable 
combinations.  Therefore  the  soul,  as  well  as  the 
body,  is  a  natural  product,  and  God  Himself  is  one 
with  Nature.  And  when  the  soul  experiences  the 
higher  birth  and  is  released  from  the  bondage  of 
the  flesh,  it  can  look  backward  through  the  dim 
vistas  of  the  past  and  trace  its  course  upward 
through  all  variety  of  forms.  This  is  the  key  to 
what  is  called  psychometry  or  the  soul-reading  of 
material  substances.  *  *  *  * 

The  soul  of  man  is  the  encyclopedia  of  all  past 
histories. 

The  doctrine  of  "The  survival  of  the  fittest" 
carried  forward  in  the  light  of  Spiritualism  pre- 
sents a  philosophical  proposition  in  regard  to  im- 
mortality. 

It  is  far  easier,  in  the  light  of  common,  every- 
day experiences,  for  us  to  conceive  of  beings 
superior  to  man  resulting  from  changes  going  on 

129 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

about  us,  than  it  is  for  the  lower  orders  of  creation 
to  comprehend  the  intellectual  activities  of  man. 
What  conception  has  the  faithful  dog  of  the 
images  in  his  master's  mind  ?  Man  at  the  present 
time  possesses  rudimentary  organs  of  spiritual 
being  which  are  slowly  developing,  as  indicated 
in  clairvoyance  and  clairaudience.  Therefore, 
from  Adam  to  angel  there  is  to  be  traced,  link  by 
link,  a  law  of  organic  and  intellectual  development 
which  is  quite  possible  for  us  to  comprehend. 
Through  scientific  investigation  and  experiment 
the  difficulties  of  life  and  the  horrors  of  so-called 
death  are  being  gradually  overcome.  We  have  at 
last  demonstrated  the  possibilities  of  soul-exist- 
ence without  the  intervention  of  a  miracle;  the 
survival  of  the  fittest  portion  of  human  nature  is 
in  accordance  with  eternal  law — and  immortality 
is  a  logical  sequence  of  earthly  life.  We  con- 
ceive of  a  time  when  there  will  not  be  an  atom  of 
this  planet  which  will  not  become  so  etherialized 
that  it  may  become  a  component  part  of  a  spiritual 
organization. 

Follow  thi&  thought :  Every  day  new  forms  of 
life  are  being  projected;  every  day  there  are 
being  liberated  new  forces,  and  new  applications 
being  made  of  mechanical  principles.  This  planet 

130 


FROM  ADAM  TO  ANGEL 

which  was  once  fire-mist  or  a  fragment  flung  from 
the  bosom  of  the  sun,  is  being  slowly  trans- 
formed, man  himself  helping  to  create  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth,  transmuting  gross  sub- 
stances into  delicate  instruments  of  power. 

Can  you  not  conceive  that,  just  as  the  lower 
forms  of  life,  say  the  vegetable,  are  being  absorbed 
by  the  animal, animal  by  man,  and  man  by  the  spir- 
itual, that  by  progressive  steps  at  last  every  atom 
of  the  globe  will  have  been  freed  from  its  present 
gross  appearance  and  evolved  to  sublimated 
form? 

I  maintain  that  every  substance  in  existence 
is  the  production  of  the  Divine  Will,  a  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Divine  Life ;  and  every  manifestation 
of  human  intelligence  is  the  legitimate  fruits  of 
all  the  activities  that  preceded  it.  The  effect  of 
the  dissolution  of  the  body  is  simply  to  liberate 
inhering  spiritual  qualities,  readjusting  them  to 
new  environments,  the  volume  of  consciousness 
eternally  increasing. 

The  old  myth  that  Adam  was  created  out  of 
the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  that  "God  breathed 
into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  and  he  became 
a  living  soul,"  contains  a  beautiful  truth. 

The  Infinite  Intelligence  thus  breathes  through 

131 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

human  intelligence ;  and  we  can  philosophically 
consider  that  the  day  is  sure  to  come  when  what 
is  now  faulty,  sensuous,  "of  the  earth,  earthy," 
shall  be  converted  into  the  spiritual  and 
heavenly. 

Within  the  breast  of  every  human  being  there 
is  the  possible  angel,  as  in  the  monad  there  was 
the  potential  man.  In  the  transmutations  which 
take  place  in  the  dissolution  of  these  physical 
bodies  the  angel  is  set  free  to  seek  in  its  new 
estate  more  suitable  environment,  the  horizon  per- 
petually expanding  and  all  ways  opening  outward 
toward  the  Infinite. 

The  old  idea  of  a  miraculous  creation ;  of  a 
God  that  has  the  power,  and  sometimes  the  will, 
to  destroy  this  world,  is  passing  away,  and  we 
find  ourselves  in  a  wondrous  universe  where  alien- 
ation from  God  is  impossible ;  where  retrogression 
is  nowhere  to  be  found,  and  where  Progress  is 
the  natural  trend  of  all  things. 

From  ape  to  angel  is  better  than  from  angel 
to  devil. 

We  see  in  the  history  of  the  globe,  which  is 
God's  Scripture,  that  man's  falling  has  always 
been  forward,  and  that  the  evolution  of  life  has 
been  like  the  motion  of  the  stars,  full  of  measure- 

132 


FROM  ADAM  TO  ANGEL 

less  harmony.  And  from  what  we  have  already 
gleaned  in  the  boundless  fields  of  truth  we  may 
confidently  hope  that  the  human  soul  will  yet  be- 
come worthy  of  its  illimitable  inheritance. 


133 


CORRECTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHICAL  ERROR 

The  subject  of  this  lecture  is  Psychics  and  Religion 
instead  of  Physics. 


PHYSICS  AND  RELIGION. 


An  Address   Delivered   at   McVicker's  Theatre, 
Chicago,  111.,  Sunday  Evening,  June  3,  1888. 

"I  confess  to  you,  there  is  something  in  my 
mind  of  sublimity  in  the  idea  that  the  world  is  full 
of  spirits,  good  and  evil,  who  are  pursuing  their 
various  errands,  and  that  the  little  that  we  can 
see  with  these  bat's  eyes  of  ours,  the  little  we  can 
decipher  with  these  imperfect  senses,  is  not  the 
whole  of  the  reading  of  those  vast  pages  of  that 
great  volume  which  God  has  written.  There  is 
in  the  lore  of  God  more  than  our  philosophy  has 
ever  dreamed  of.  *  *  *  "There  have  been 
times  in  which  I  declare  to  you  heaven  was  more 
real  than  earth;  in  which  my  children  that  were 
gone  spoke  more  plainly  to  me  than  my  children 
that  were  with  me ;  in  which  the  blessed  estate  of 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect  in  heaven 
seemed  more  real  than  the  estate  of  any  just  man 
on  earth.  These  are  experiences  that  link  one 
with  another  and  a  higher  life.  They  are  gen- 

137 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

erally   not    continuous    but   occasional    openings 
through  which  we  look  into  another  world." 

"These  glimpses  of  the  future  state  are  a 
great  comfort  and  consolation  to  all  those  who  are 
looking  for  the  development  of  perfect  manhood." 
— Henry  Ward  Beecher. 


PHYSICS  AND  RELIGION. 

In  our  search  after  truth,  Nature  is  our  only 
infallible  authority.  If  we  would  have  a  perfect 
moral  standard,  we  must  go  to  her,  questioning 
her  will,  her  law  of  life.  If  we  would  better  our 
condition  as  physical  beings,  it  is  from  her  great, 
inexhaustible  storehouse  that  we  must  draw  all 
of  our  supplies.  Study  History  and  learn  by  what 
hard,  laborious  effort,  grievous  strife  and  suffer- 
ing men  have  discovered  the  fact  that  to  violate 
a  law  of  their  own  being  is  to  bring  upon  them- 
selves sorrowful  consequences.  If  man  would 
enjoy  the  ineffable  delights  that  flow  from  the 
fountains  of  life  he  must  adjust  himself  har- 
moniously to  his  surroundings  and  advantage 
himself  by  seeking  Nature's  truths,  breathing  her 
pure  air,  drinking  in  her  placid  sunshine;  and  if 

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PHYSICS  AND  RELIGION 

he  would  expand  the  realm  of  thought,  it  is  by 
studying  again  her  pages  as  unrolled  in  the  ma- 
terial universe,  where,  on  every  side,  appear  forms 
various,  multitudinous,  expressive  of  invisible 
force.  Even  what  is  called  divine  revelation  is 
simply  man's  apprehension  of  higher  truth;  and 
all  the  Bibles  of  the  world  are  records  of  man's 
spiritual  experiences.  To  these  Bibles  there  is 
something  added  day  by  day.  None  of  them  shall 
ever  know  completion;  for  the  soul  is  infinite  in 
its  possibilities,  and  has  eternity  in  which  to  un- 
fold them;  and  every  glimpse  we  get  of  the  life 
eternal,  which  is  manifest  as  truly  in  these  forms 
of  matter,  and  as  divinely  in  the  operations  of 
natural  law  as  anywhere  or  in  any  way — every 
glimpse  is  an  added  sentence  to  these  sacred 
books  of  humanity,  and  are  indices  of  that  which 
is  yet  to  follow.  And  while  our  subject  leads  us 
to  dwell  upon  the  psychical  side  of  life,  we  would 
have  you  understand  that  we  have  great  reverence 
for  what  men  call  matter.  We  know  of  nothing 
profane  or  unclean  in  all  this  universe.  What  we 
call  matter  and  spirit  are  ever-changing  places 
and  interchanging  compliments.  The  body  is  the 
necessary  and  beautiful  comrade  of  the  spirit, 
without  which  the  spirit  would  be  deprived  of  half 

139 


SONG  AND  SEXMON 

the  pleasure  which  it  now  experiences  through 
that  medium.  Indeed,  matter  and  spirit  in  the 
last  analysis  are  one  and  the  same  in  God.  The 
most  positive  form  of  matter,  matter  in  its  gross- 
est expression,  is  reducable  to  invisible  force.  The 
diamond  and  the  granite  yielding  to  chemical 
action  are  converted  into  the  unseen  and  the  im- 
palpable. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  innermost  thought  of 
God  sometimes  shines  forth  even  in  our  poor 
human  life,  in  heroic  action,  sublime  patience, 
willingness  to  suffer,  and  desire  to  grow  morally 
strong,  and  in  love  ineffable.  So,  seen  from  the 
viewpoint  of  the  true  spiritualist,  life  in  all  of  its 
varied  manifestations,  is  a  unit.  We  may  call  it 
Nature  or  God,  it  is  one  and  the  same.  It  stands 
for  this  mighty  play  of  Force ;  these  ever- varying 
forms,  these  eternally  iterating  symphonies  that 
sweep  from  the  golden  keyboard  of  shining 
worlds  down  into  the  silent  depths  of  human 
thought  and  spiritual  contemplation. 

I  affirm  then,  that  we  are  spirits  now  as  much 
as  we  ever  shall  be;  that  this  is  God's  world  as 
truly  as  any  glittering  star  where  pauses  the 
seraph  in  his  happy  flight  this  hour  to  listen  to  the 
deep  and  tender  intonations  of  infinite  love  as  they 

140 


PHYSICS  AND  RELIGION 

roll  out  from  the  soul-depths  of  boundless  nature. 
And  I  furthermore  affirm  that  whatever  has  been 
in  the  past,  whatever  is  in  the  present,  whatever 
shall  be  in  the  countless  years  to  come,  has  been, 
is,  will  be  subject  to  the  law  of  Necessity;  and 
that  God,  or  good,  law  and  order,  has  reigned, 
now  reigns,  shall  reign  forever,  supreme,  Sov- 
ereign over  all.  This  which  we  call  matter  is  but 
the  medium  through  which  spirit  is  manifest; 
you  are  all  visible  mediums  of  an  invisible  force. 
And  the  materialist,  who  declares  that  all  that 
is  real  is  this  which  we  can  cognize  with  our  poor 
five  senses  has  only  learned  the  first  letter  of  that 
long  alphabet  which  is  by  and  by  to  spell  for  us 
the  infinite  scriptures  of  eternal  truth.  Is  there 
an  architectural  form  in  your  beautiful  city  that 
was  not  first  an  impalpable  thrill  in  some  man's 
brain  ?  Is  there  in  poetry  or  song,  in  the  arts  and 
sciences  a  single  breath,  one  note,  a  demonstration 
that  was  not  first  an  impalpable  thought  ? 

Do  you  not  see,  my  friends,  that  every  act  of 
our  lives  is  a  psychical  act,  or  proceeds  from  the 
realm  of  soul  ?  That  even  yon  building  is  held  in 
place  by  invisible  force?  The  strength  of  the 
granite  lies  in  the  invisible  force  that  holds  the 
atoms  and  molecules  together.  Talk  about  the 

141 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

unreality  of  the  invisible  is  pure  nonsense.  We 
know  that  we  are  thinking  beings,  yet  we  never 
saw  a  thought.  We  never  saw  the  prompter  of 
these  actions  that  make  up  the  drama  of  human 
life.  If  you  say  you  do  not  know  that  you  have 
a  soul,  I  reply,  You  are  a  Soul.  There  never  was 
a  form  of  matter  until  the  spirit  demanded  that 
it  should  be.  The  Soul  called  for  the  hand,  the 
eye,  the  ear  that  it  might  acquaint  itself  with  cer- 
tain manifestations  of  spirit  through  matter. 

Now  with  these  few  general  affirmations  let 
us  proceed  to  the  application  of  their  truth  to  our 
own  personal  needs.  There  is  no  danger  of  our 
asking  Nature  any  question  which  she  is  either 
unable  or  unwilling  to  answer.  There  is  no 
danger  of  our  making  any  demand  upon  her  treas- 
ures of  thought  or  material  which  she  will  not  be 
able  to  supply.  There  is  no  danger  of  our  coming 
too  close  to  God's  truth.  Our  only  danger  lies 
in  our  ignorance.  All  the  evils  which  afflict  this 
world  had  their  origin  in  ignorance.  When  we 
grow  up  into  the  light  of  Truth,  into  the  light  of 
Nature's  law  and  adjust  ourselves  in  harmony 
therewith,  physical  diseases  disappear,-  weariness 
of  spirit  passes  away,  and  we  are  one  with  the 
order  and  beauty  of  the  universe. 

142 


PHYSICS  AND  RELIGION 

I  said  in  the  outset  that  what  is  called  divine 
revelation,  the  sacred  books  of  the  world,  are 
simply  the  history  of  man's  spiritual  experiences. 

That  which  the  human  soul  clings  to  with  the 
greatest  tenacity  for  hope,  for  strength,  for  guid- 
ance is  the  psychical  experience  of  some  man  or 
woman  of  ancient  or  modern  times,  who,  in  a 
lucid  moment,  in  a  partial  or  perfect  trance,  with 
the  senses  under  subjection  to  the  Spirit,  heard 
with  other  than  these  outward  ears,  saw  with 
other  than  these  common  eyes,  felt  with  other 
than  these  bodily  senses,  a  voice  that  had  been 
hushed  in  the  grave,  a  face  that  had  been  veiled 
by  the  shadow  of  death,  a  touch  from  the  unseen. 
Is  it  not  so? 

What  are  the  sayings  of  the  prophets  to  us 
except  as  they  tell  us  of  a  life  higher  and  holier 
than  this,  and  point  to  the  presence  of  the  living 
God  ?  What  was  the  vision  of  John  upon  the  Isle 
of  Patmos  if  not  a  psychical  experience?  Chris- 
tians who  urge  arguments  against  the  facts  and 
phenomena  of  modern  Spiritualism  are  putting 
into  the  hands  of  materialists  and  scoffers  weapons 
with  which  to  slay  their  own  precious  faith.  If 
there  is  good  reason  why  our  friends  who  have 
passed  through  the  gate  of  death  should  not  re- 

143 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

turn  to  us  with  blessings,  guidance  and  good 
cheer,  there  was  reason  why  those  of  old  should 
not  have  returned ;  why  John  should  have  repelled 
and  doubted  the  vision.  And  good  reason  why 
Paul  on  the  wonderful  journey  should  have  de- 
clared the  heavenly  voice  a  delusion,  and  rejected 
the  cry,  "Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?" 
Good  reason  why  he  should  have  declared  this 
to  be  the  result  of  a  diseased  nervous  condition 
rather  than  an  appeal  on  the  part  of  an  arisen 
spirit  who  felt  that  the  truth  that  he  brought  to 
light  in  the  world  should  be  carried  forward  by 
chosen  instruments  to  bless  mankind.  Now,  I 
affirm  that  the  law  which  rendered  it  possible  for 
the  ancient  prophets  and  for  Christ's  disciples  to 
feel  a  thrill  from  the  world  invisible,  to  catch 
glimpses  of  radiant  forms  of  angels,  to  hear  spirit 
voices,  to  foretell  coming  events,  was  as  natural, 
as  universal  and  as  unchangeable  as  the  law  of 
gravitation  ;  and  therefore  any  vision  which  comes 
to  man  from  the  psychical  side  of  life  simply 
demonstrates  his  power  of  adjustment  to  that  law. 
The  paucity  of  these  manifestations,  the  lack  of 
them  in  ages  gone,  the  visits  of  the  angels  being 
few  and  far  between,  was  not  because  the  law  did 
not  exist,  any  more  than  our  ignorance  of  the 

144 


PHYSICS  AND  RELIGION 

beauties  of  the  stellar  spheres  rendered  their  ex- 
istence impossible ;  but  simply  proves  that  human 
life  is  subject  to  the  law  of  evolution,  and  just  as 
man  waited  for  a  mental  development  capable  of 
the  higher  mathematics  and  intelligent  observa- 
tion of  the  stars ;  just  as  he  waited  for  the  correct 
reading  of  geological  formations  and  experimental 
chemistry,  so  he  waited  and  still  waits  for  the 
development  of  the  psychical  powers. 

In  connection  with  this  development  we  see 
many  distortions  of  the  truth.  In  nature,  through 
all  the  transmutations  of  matter  there  is  a  cease- 
less effort  to  preserve  the  equilibrium  of  forces ; 
symmetry  of  form,  beauty  of  outline,  healthy 
growth  and  harmonious  action  are  all  the  result 
of  this  eternal  necessity.  And  glancing  at  the 
history  of  modern  Spiritualism  we  find  that  the 
celestial  world  offers  no  exception  to  this  law. 

One  would  naturally  suppose  that  angel's 
visits,  the  demonstration  of  life  beyond  the  grave, 
the  sweet  messages  of  hope  and  love  that  have 
broken  the  awful  silence  of  death,  the  holy  vision 
and  precious  promises  that  have  blossomed  in  the 
great  desert  of  our  unbelief  would  be  free  from 
all  unseemly  disturbances,  and  that  in  the  light 
streaming  through  the  cloud-rifts  of  human  sor- 

145 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

row  only  good  germs  would  fructify.  But  here, 
too,  is  shown  the  correspondence  between  the 
physical  and  spiritual  forces.  For  even  as  sun- 
light develops  nascent  deformities  and  dormant 
beauties  side  by  side,  vitalizes  the  spawn  of  rep- 
tiles and  white  lily-bulbs  simultaneously,  so  the 
light  of  spiritual  truth,  falling  through  a  great 
variety  of  mediums,  is  infinitely  refracted  and 
reveals  life's  distortions  as  well  as  its  divine 
graces.  Therefore  we  have  ancient  mysticisms 
warmed  to  life  in  the  bosom  of  our  spiritual 
philosophy;  reincarnation  wriggling  forth  from 
the  dust-heaps  of  buried  centuries,  and  egotism 
gone  to  seed  in  the  notion  that  heroes,  poets  and 
master-souls  of  the  past  are  again  with  us  clothed 
in  common  flesh !  The  flood  of  light  pouring 
from  the  Spirit-world  has  dazzled  us ;  our  credul- 
ity is  drunk  on  this  new  wine;  in  short,  we  have 
lost  our  spiritual  equilibrium,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence we  must  suffer  a  reactionary  shock.  We 
have  sat  worshipfully  at  the  feet  of  inspired  elo- 
quence, drinking  in  every  word  as  infallible.  We 
have  cried  "Give,  give,"  even  while  our  measures 
were  running  over.  The  more  we  got  of  super- 
mundane facts  the  more  we  craved,  and  this  un- 
reasonable demand  created  an  adulterated  supply. 

146 


PHYSICS  AND  RELIGION 

We  wanted  the  impossible;  we  got  a  simulation 
of  it !  Aye,  and  in  such  doses  as  produced  mental 
nausea — the  soul's  involuntary  effort  to  regain 
her  equilibrium. 

And  now  let  us  ask  if  nature's  method  of 
growth  is  not,  after  all,  the  surest  and  best?  In 
proportion  to  the  spreading  of  the  tree's  roots  do 
its  branches  extend,  keeping  the  balance  true;  in 
proportion  to  the  respect  we  pay  to  life's  begin- 
nings will  our  faculties  unfold  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  divine  ends.  The  facts  of  Spiritualism 
should  not  draw  our  eyes  away  from  this  world, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  when  rightly  studied,  will 
they  translate  for  us  its  hidden  meanings.  In 
my  opinion  these  facts  have  not  kindled  a  solitary 
hope  in  the  heart,  the  tap-root  of  which  does  not 
extend  deep  into  this  life's  daily  duties. 

Let  us  seek  humbly,  go  carefully  on  this  dimly 
lighted  way,  assort  and  classify  our  facts,  and, 
above  all,  deserve  to  live  forever. 

Every  failure  along  the  line  of  mechanical  in- 
vention and  discovery,  by  inducing  further  study 
and  experiments  has  resulted  in  grander  achieve- 
ments than  were  at  first  anticipated.  So  will  it 
be  with  every  failure  of  honest  endeavor  to  find 
out  spiritual  truth. 

147 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Spiritualism,  as  I  understand  it,  is  the  anti- 
thesis of  supernaturalism  and  the  strongest  foe  of 
superstition.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  the  super- 
natural. Everything  that  we  think  and  feel  and 
see,  whether  it  be  on  the  plane  of  the  physical  or 
spiritual,  is  in  accordance  with  eternal  law. 

Now,  what  has  been  the  fruitage  of  the  psych- 
ical experiences  of  mankind?  Why,  out  of  them 
have  sprung  all  the  systems  of  religion  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  Religion  is  the  Soul's 
awakening  to  full  consciousness  of  its  own  ex- 
istence and  the  effort  to  come  into  right  rela- 
tions with  the  infinite  Good.  Religion  is  the  Soul's 
hunger  and  thirst  after  Righteousness,  the  blos- 
soming of  Faith  into  knowledge  of  God.  And 
psychical  experiences  have  had  a  direct  and  help- 
ful influence  in  unfolding  the  religious  nature  of 
mankind.  Our  sacred  books  are  simply  the 
histories  of  these  experiences,  visions,  hearing  of 
voices,  exaltations,  the  apprehension  of  moral 
truths  and  spiritual  relationships.  And  the  world 
is  never  left  without  God's  witnesses.  According 
to  our  need,  as  we  are  prepared,  ripened  in  spirit, 
the  vision  comes,  the  voice  is  heard,  the  Way  ap- 
pears. Slowly  but  surely  the  river  of  Light 
presses  its  way  along  the  centuries,  through  desert 

148 


PHYSICS  AND  RELIGION 

wastes  and  wildernesses  of  human  ignorance  and 
wrong,  some  sweet  day  to  cleanse  the  last  stain, 
and  lift  the  last  burden  from  the  breast  of  the 
human  race. 

Why  should  we  reject  the  psychical  experi- 
ences of  to-day  ?  This  is  a  very  vital  question.  If 
you  are  a  theosophist,  and  believe  that  you  can 
project  an  astral  body  beyond  the  environment 
of  your  own  personal  sphere,  you  still  cannot 
prove  that  that  luminous  form  is  not  dependent 
upon  laws  of  matter  for  its  transit  and  appear- 
ance. If  you  are  a  mind-curist  or  a  Christian 
Scientist,  you  are  simply  an  interpreter  of  laws 
that  are  universal  in  the  life  of  man.  And  all 
that  has  been  manifest  of  truth  in  past  times,  and 
all  that  we  hope  for  in  the  future  is  already  resi- 
dent in  the  soul.  I  love  to  think  upon  the 
visions  that  came  to  John,  Peter  and  Paul.  I 
love  to  remember  that  a  man  like  St.  Paul,  when 
in  error,  could  be  converted  to  truth  by  a  voice 
from  the  unseen.  I  love  to  believe  that  the  blessed 
Master,  who  had  taught  for  three  glorious  years 
the  divine  doctrine  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and 
the  brotherhood  of  man,  when  the  beautiful  form 
was  wrapped  in  the  mystery  of  death,  could,  as  a 
living  Soul,  project  himself  beyond  the  line  of  the 

149 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

invisible  and  so  impinge  upon  the  mortal  sphere 
that  the  devoted  sorrowing  women  who  sought 
him  might  be  assured  that  they  had  found  their 
Lord.  I  love  to  believe  that  in  life's  great  strug- 
gle, in  the  blindness  of  ignorance,  in  the  agony  of 
bereavement,  there  are  those  about  us  who  have 
passed  through  the  ordeal  of  mortal  life  and 
death,  who  can,  like  those  of  old,  come  so  near  to 
us  in  our  prison-house  of  clay  as  to  shed  a  beam 
of  light  across  our  darkened  path  and  whisper 
into  the  silence  of  our  despair  the  assurance  that 
death  is  but  the  open  door  to  a  larger,  purer, 
sweoter  life  which  God  has  provided  for  all  His 
children.  I  do  not  see  why  these  constantly  re- 
curring visions,  these  evidences  of  the  power  of 
ex-carnate  spirits  should  bring  consternation  to 
any  class  of  people.  If  you  dismiss  old  prejudices 
and  listen  to  the  oracles  within,  God-implanted, 
do  you  not  find  the  doctrine  of  a  natural,  active 
spirit  world  perfectly  rational?  Is  there  any- 
thing in  the  discoveries  of  Science  that  conflicts 
with  the  central  claim  of  modern  Spiritualism  ? 
On  the  contrary,  every  advancing  step  of  Science 
is  preparing  the  way  for  the  doctrine  of  a 
demonstrable  immortality.  Mesmerism,  thought- 
transference,  telepathy,  all  point  to  the  possible 

150 


PHYSICS  AND  RELIGION 

power  of  the  excarnate  spirit.  Have  we  reason 
to  suppose  that  the  physical  brain  is  absolutely 
indispensable  to  the  thinking  spirit?  On  the 
contrary  our  experiences  prove  that  intelligence 
is  at  times  quite  independent  of  the  flesh. 

And  what  is  the  relationship  of  this  psychical 
law  to  our  every-day  life?  It  suggests  to  us  the 
possibility  of  our  becoming  while  on  earth,  to  a 
degree,  free  from  the  bondage  of  the  flesh,  which 
has  been  the  barrier  between  our  souls  and  much 
that  is  beautiful  and  true.  It  refreshes  our  spirits 
with  new  baptisms  of  hope;  it  supplies  the  miss- 
ing link  between  the  bereaved  heart  and  the  de- 
parted friend ;  it  overturns  the  theological  dogmas 
that  have  so  long  been  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
human  progress.  The  psychical  powers  of  Soc- 
rates, Jesus,  Paul  and  the  apostles  inspired  virtu- 
ous action,  poured  balm  upon  wounded  souls, 
and  healed  diseases  of  both  mind  and  body.  Every 
new  revelation  from  the  spirit  world  justifies 
our  grandest  hopes.  Every  fresh  vision  ac- 
centuates the  fact  of  the  natural  life  of  the 
spirit,  and  reveals  to  us  the  fact  that  we 
are  to  begin  our  heaven  now  and  here;  that 
our  toil  and  griefs,  our  gains  and  losses  are  but 
the  necessary  discipline  through  which  the  soul 

151 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

passes  in  ascending  to  higher  planes  of  truth, 
beauty  and  joy.  We  are  enwrapped  by  the 
spiritual  world.  We  are  inhabitants  of  it  al- 
ready. The  least  soul  inherits  all  the  Past,  is 
heir  to  all  the  future,  and  every  breath  of  truth 
that  kisses  the  face  of  being  here  is  a  signal  from 
God  beckoning  us  onward  and  upward  forever. 


152 


THE    NEEDS    OF   THE    HOUR. 


A   Lecture   Delivered   at   Sunnybrae,   Cupertino, 
Cal.,   June  2,   1894. 

"We  are  called  to  be  witnesses  to  the  world 
of  a  freer,  more  equal,  more  humane,  more  en- 
lightened social  existence  than  has  yet  been 
known.  May  God  raise  us  to  a  more  thorough 
comprehension  of  our  work!  May  He  give  us 
faith  in  the  good  which  we  are  summoned  to 
achieve!  May  He  strengthen  us  to  build  up  a 
prosperity  not  tainted  by  slavery,  selfishness  or 
any  wrong;  but  pure,  innocent,  righteous  and 
overflowing,  through  a  just  and  generous  inter- 
course, on  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  !" — William 
Ellery  C banning. 


Prophecy  is  but  the  right  reading  of  cause  and 
effect ;  "events  cast  their  shadows  before" ;  the 
principles  of  nature  are  adjusted  according  to  an 
unerring,  infinite,  mathematical  law,  from  the 
microscopic  molecule  to  the  birth  and  death  of 

155 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

worlds.  Events  are  the  edicts  of  God,  and 
Nature's  acts  of  obedience.  Therefore  to 
prophesy  one  needs  but  to  study  carefully  the 
signs  of  the  times,  and  there  are  those  at  the  pres- 
ent time  who  are  feeling  at  their  hearts'  center 
a  restless,  uneasy,  stirring  under  this  same  spirit 
of  prophecy.  There  are  those  of  free  and  un- 
clouded intelligence  who  are  studying  the  events 
of  to-day  and  forecasting  in  reference  to  the 
future  of  our  beloved  America.  There  are  indi- 
cations of  coming  storms,  which,  I  think,  if  we 
will  lift  our  thought  above  our  petty,  narrow, 
every-day  common  interests,  and  lay  our  fingers 
upon  the  pulse  of  the  world,  we  shall  find  are 
eloquent  in  prophecies  of  our  future.  I  am  not 
one  to  believe  it  is  wise  to  prophesy  evil.  I  am 
not  pessimistic  in  my  view  of  the  condition  of 
the  world  to-day.  I  do  not  think  it  is  well  to  fill 
the  hearts  of  the  people  with  forebodings  which 
we  cannot  relieve,  but  I  do  believe  it  is  best  to 
arouse  them  intellectually,  morally  and  spiritually, 
to  an  earnest  consideration  of  our  American 
problems  from  the  general  standpoint  of  social 
ethics. 

You   may   wonder  that   I   have  chosen   this 
theme  for  a  Sabbath  Day's  discourse.     It  is  be- 

156 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  HOUR 

cause  I  believe  that  all  days  are  God's  days,  and 
if  there  is  one  day  that  we  should  set  apart  for 
special  thought  and  service  to  the  Most  High,  I 
know  not  of  a  better  work  I  would  set  to  doing 
on  such  a  day  and  at  this  moment  than  to  try 
to  kindle  in  the  hearts  of  my  hearers  a  deeper 
reverence  for  humanity  everywhere,  and  if  pos- 
sible inspire  them  with  a  desire  to  better  the  con- 
ditions of  the  people,  not  only  in  America,  but 
over  the  broad  earth,  and  also  to  arouse  them  to  a 
realization  of  the  power  which  is  vested  in  them. 

The  great  fault  of  the  present  day  is  that  we 
are  too  much  absorbed  in  our  individual  inter- 
ests, and  do  not  recognize  where  our  ship  of 
State  is  drifting,  nor  how  our  homes  are  en- 
dangered by  this  apathetic  attitude. 

This  is  an  era  of  broad  measures.  It  is  not  a 
time  for  drawing  close  and  narrow  lines,  but  a 
time  for  widening  the  horizon  of  our  thought,  and 
for  extending  our  sympathies  in  every  direction. 
Therefore  we  cannot  afford  the  policy  suggested 
by  the  cry,  "America  for  Americans."  I  believe 
that  the  starving  peasant  of  France,  of  Germany 
or  of  "Darkest  England"  is  as  dear  to  the  heart 
of  God  as  any  member  of  the  British  Parliament, 
or  any  member  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 

157 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

States.  I  believe  that  the  wisest  policy,  and  that 
which  will  be  the  most  successful  will  be  the  one 
which  takes  into  consideration  all  humanity.  And 
the  adoption  of  such  a  policy  in  efforts  to  solve 
grave  national  problems  can  only  be  realized  by 
the  growth  of  high  ideals  on  the  part  of  the  pri- 
vate citizen.  There  is  not  a  soul  present  but  may 
wield  an  influence  for  good,  if  not  in  so  wide  a 
sphere  as  his  neighborhood,  certainly  in  the 
sphere  of  home.  And  our  homes,  after  all,  are  but 
the  miniature  of  the  nation.  Just  so  intelligent, 
patriotic  and  moral  as  are  our  homes,  just  so  in- 
telligent, patriotic  and  moral  will  our  nation  be. 
Therefore  to  you  as  home  builders,  to  you  whose 
homes  are  in  prospect,  to  you,  young  men  and 
women,  let  me  say  that  the  sooner  you  regard 
with  reverence  the  principles  of  true  patriotism, 
the  sooner  you  begin  to  receive  instructions  along 
these  great  lines  of  national  interest,  the  sooner 
you  begin  to  study  political  economy,  the  sooner 
will  the  great  questions  before  this  nation  be  set- 
tled in  the  interests  of  eternal  justice.  Upon  each 
and  every  one  of  you  rests  the  great  obligation 
and  responsibility  of  using  to  the  utmost  such  in- 
fluence as  you  have  for  purifying  the  moral  atmos- 
phere in  which  you  live.  I  mean  that  atmosphere 

158 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  HOUR 

of  daily  living,  into  which  are  crowded  so  many 
of  the  little  things  of  life.  If  these  little  things 
be  kept  pure  and  ring  with  the  note  of  true  har- 
mony, they  help  to  swell  the  symphony  of  freedom 
and  brotherhood  which  we  hope  one  day  will  en- 
circle the  globe.  Your  politics  and  religion  ought 
to  go  hand  in  hand.  I  care  not  for  that  pseudo- 
religion  that  does  not  color  every  act.  If  a  man 
ever  performs  a  religious  duty  it  is  when,  with 
the  ballot,  he  determines  to  a  greater  or  less  degree 
the  happiness  of  his  country. 

That  we  may  understand  this  question  and  see 
clearly  what  our  duty  is,  let  us  divest  ourselves  of 
all  party  and  race  prejudice,  and  consider  how 
closely  we  are  bound  together.  We  are  a  unit, 
and  it  is  impossible  from  the  nature  of  things  for 
us  to  ignore  the  condition  of  any  individual, 
whether  that  person  be  in  a  state  of  degradation, 
of  abject  want  and  misery,  or  affluent  and  abound- 
ing in  joy.  For  he  is  sending  out  influences  which 
sooner  or  later  will  impinge  upon  our  own  indi- 
vidual sphere.  The  poor  Chinaman,  the  German, 
the  Frenchman,  the  Russian,  the  Jew,  no  matter 
of  what  race  or  how  obscure,  or  how  far  removed 
from  us  in  condition,  has  some  influence  upon  us, 
and  every  act  of  generosity,  every  thought  of 

159 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

sympathy  which  we  send  forth  will  affect  the 
condition  of  those  people,  wherever  they  may  be. 
Let  us  look  upon  humanity  from  the  altitude 
from  which  we  suppose  God  looks  upon  it.  Not 
as  this  or  that  nationality,  but  as  human  beings 
with  certain  rights  and  wants,  who  hunger  and 
thirst ;  as  beings  whom  love  and  moral  influence 
may  elevate.  If  the  Christian  scriptures  mean  any- 
thing; if  the  scriptures  on  the  face  of  nature 
mean  anything;  if  the  scriptures  in  the  human 
soul  itself  mean  any  thing,  they  mean  that  fraternity 
is  a  principle.  The  fatherhood  of  God  is  a  mis- 
nomer without  that  twin-principle,  the  brother- 
hood of  man.  But  that  principle  of  the  brother- 
hood of  man  means  not  only  that  an  American 
is  our  brother,  because  we  are  Americans,  but  it 
means  that  anyone  in  the  universe,  spirit  or 
mortal,  is  our  brother,  as  God  is  our  father. 
No  man  can  afford  to  wrong  his  neighbor, 
no  nation  can  afford  to  adopt  a  narrow  and 
selfish  policy,  for  nature  will  have  her  way, 
and  only  that  which  redounds  to  the  uni- 
versal good  will  endure.  How  many  times  in 
the  history  of  individuals  and  nations  the  selfish 
policy  has  been  surrendered  at  an  awful  cost! 
From  our  viewpoint  of  to-day  we  can  see  that  if 

160 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  HOUR 

the  North  and  the  South  forty  years  ago  had  come 
together  and  arbitrated  their  difficulties,  they 
might  have  avoided  the  shedding  of  precious 
blood  and  the  enormous  expense  of  the  civil  war, 
which  has  left  a  blot  upon  our  nation's  history. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  time  has  come  for  the 
arbitration  of  all  great  difficulties,  whether  per- 
sonal or  national,  and  that  we  should  no  longer 
resort  to  brute  force.  When  any  corporation 
takes  the  position  of  stubborn,  unreasoning  re- 
sistance against  any  other  body  of  people,  the 
State  should  step  in  and  settle  that  difficulty.  In 
other  words,  we  should  have  State  committees 
appointed  for  the  arbitration  of  these  questions. 
They  should  not  be  left  to  the  tyranny  of  private 
citizens  or  corporated  bodies,  and  settled  at  the 
expense  of  innocent  parties  and  against  all  com- 
mon interests.  Is  this  not  much  better  than  set- 
tling them  at  the  point  of  the  sword  or  at  the 
cannon's  mouth?  Human  invention  has  reached 
such  a  state  of  perfection  that  modern  warfare 
has  become  enormously  destructive,  and  you 
mothers  have  a  right  to  protest  against  it,  and  to 
refuse  to  bear  sons  to  be  slain  upon  the 
battlefield.  A  word  further  in  regard  to  "America 
for  Americans."  I  do  not  wish  to  ignore  the 

161 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

gravity  of  the  immigration  problem.  Free  and 
unrestricted  immigration  has  attracted  a  great 
horde  of  ignorant  foreigners  to  our  soil,  and 
without  proper  parties  to  meet  them  upon  their 
landing,  to  intelligently  and  unselfishly  instruct 
them  as  to  what  should  be  their  procedure  after 
arriving  here,  they  have  been  a  great  menace. 
Right  here  lies  the  cause  of  very  much  of  the 
trouble  under  which  the  American  people  are  now 
suffering,  and  is  an  element  of  danger  to  the 
whole  nation.  But  what  is  the  remedy?  I  do  not 
think  it  lies  in  drawing  lines  of  restriction.  I  do 
not  think  this  is  an  age  in  which  a  Chinese  wall 
would  be  successful,  nor  an  age  in  which  we  can 
say  to  one  class  of  people,  "You  shall  stay  at 
home,  though  you  are  crowded  there,  and  starv- 
ing, and  suffering  awful  degradation.  America 
is  for  Americans,  and  we  will  not  have  you  upon 
our  shores." 

I  know  there  are  many  here  to-day  who  take 
a  different  view.  I  know  there  are  many  wise 
men  and  women  who  think  we  ought  to  immedi- 
ately restrict  immigration  and  render  it  impossible 
for  Europe  to  send  its  paupers  and  criminals  to 
our  shores.  I  answer  by  repeating  my  first 
proposition,  namely,  that  a  man  in  darkest  Eng- 

162 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  HOUR 

land,  a  woman  there  with  a  starving  babe  pressed 
to  her  bosom,  is  as  precious  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Infinite  as  any  babe  starving  here  in  America.  I 
believe  there  is  room  in  America  for  these  people 
who  are  coming.  I  believe  there  is  a  class  already 
in  America  that  is  more  dangerous,  and  of  which 
we  hear  but  very  little,  viz.,  the  conscienceless, 
selfish,  greedy  politicians,  who  immediately  seize 
upon  these  ignorant  people  and  place  in  their 
hands  a  tool — the  ballot — with  which  in  time  they 
may  destroy  our  Republic.  Another  dangerous 
class  to  which  we  should  turn  our  attention  is 
composed  of  the  foreign  capitalists,  who  are 
greedily  gathering  into  their  hands  millions  of 
virgin  acres,  and  then  renting  to  the  immigrants 
in  such  a  way  that  all  the  profits  of  the  poor  man's 
toil  go  into  the  capitalist's  already  overflowing 
coffers.  Let  there  be  a  law  that  no  foreign-born 
or  native-born  capitalist  shall  invest  his  money 
in  millions,  or  even  thousands  of  acres  of  our 
soil,  and  hold  it  unimproved  while  people  are 
starving  for  want  of  bread.  Take  back  from 
the  foreign  capitalists  these  broad  acres  and  turn 
them  over  to  the  poor  immigrants  who  have  no- 
where to  lay  their  heads,  and  give  them  a  chance 
to  better  their  conditions  and  elevate  the  moral 
tone  of  their  lives. 

163 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Do  you  say  there  is  no  room  for  the  laborers 
and  nothing  for  them  to  do,  when  there  are  mil- 
lions of  acres  of  untilled  land  and  vast  deserts 
that  need  water  let  in  upon  them !  Let  the  waters 
flow  over  and  sweeten  them,  and  where  now  are 
only  barren  wastes  will  grow  bread  for  the  count- 
less starving  creatures  of  the  earth.  I  think,  if 
we  study  this  question  intelligently,  we  will  see 
that  it  is  not  by  the  extermination  of  the  China- 
man or  the  restriction  of  the  poor  foreigner  that 
we  shall  save  America,  but  that  it  will  be  by  realiz- 
ing and  making  use  of  the  power  we  already  pos- 
sess ;  by  remembering  the  inexhaustable  resources 
at  our  command,  by  wise  distribution  of  the  labor 
devolving  upon  the  people,  and  by  wise  profit- 
sharing  of  this  labor. 

Do  not  understand  me  to  say  that  we  can 
equalize  the  wealth  of  this  country  by  an  indis- 
criminate dividing  up  of  what  we  now  possess. 
Were  we  to  do  this  to-day,  by  to-morrow  noon  the 
inequalities  would  begin  to  show  themselves,  and 
by  another  year  we  would  have  again  the  rich 
and  the  poor.  This  is  because  people  are  not 
equal,  either  in  intelligence  or  industry.  If  we 
could  equalize  those  two  qualities,  the  greatest 
problem  of  America  would  be  solved.  Why? 


164 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  HOUR 

Because  men  would  see  their  opportunity,  seize 
upon  it  and  work  steadily  for  success. 

I  have  no  word  of  depreciation  to  utter  against 
the  capitalist.  I  believe  in  the  capitalist.  I  believe 
that  labor  and  capital  are  each  necessary  in  their 
place.  But  I  would  ask  the  capitalist,  Where  did 
your  capital  come  from  ?  and  in  what  does  it  con- 
sist? Money  is  not  wealth,  my  friends,  it  is 
simply  a  medium  of  exchange.  Our  wealth  is  in 
our  cultivated  lands  and  in  our  beautiful  homes. 
In  the  power  of  our  muscles,  and  above  all  in  the 
intelligent  activity  of  our  brains.  Wealth  is  the 
ability  to  appropriate  and  assimilate  the  blessings 
of  nature.  Wealth  lies  in  those  qualities  that 
make  true  manhood  and  womanhood.  What 
would  be  a  fair  thing  between  the  brain  and  the 
hand?  The  brain  cannot  do  without  the  hand, 
the  hand  cannot  do  without  the  brain.  Would  it 
be  a  fair  thing  for  the  brain  to  say  to  the  hand, 
"I  have  made  the  plans,  and  I  will  take  all  the 
profits  derived  from  your  execution  of  them,  ex- 
cept the  bare  sustenance  that  you  must  have  in 
order  to  continue  your  work"  ?  No  !  If  one  man 
can  organize  a  plan,  and  another  man  is  able  to 
successfully  carry  it  out,  and  wealth  results  from 
its  execution,  that  man  should  share  in  the  profits 

165 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

which  he  has  helped  to  make.  I  believe  that  in 
this  system  of  co-operation  and  profit-sharing  lies 
the  solution  of  the  labor  question.  Wherever  the 
profit-sharing  system  has  been  tried  it  has  been  a 
success.  Set  a  dozen  men  to  work  and  say  to 
them  that  they  will  be  fairly  paid  for  the  mere 
mechanical  work,  and  all  that  remains  after  the 
expenses  are  paid  will  be  shared  equally,  and  they 
will  do  their  work  more  earnestly  and  with  greater 
interest  than  under  the  old  system. 

The  poorest  man  in  the  United  States  is  the 
man  who  has  the  largest  bank  account  and  no 
sympathy ;  who  has  the  largest  amount  of  money 
and  does  not  know  what  to  do  with  it.  I  have  no 
sympathy  with  a  post-mortem  benevolence.  I  be- 
lieve in  a  living,  active  benevolence.  A  man  who 
leaves  to  others  the  execution  of  his  will  in  refer- 
ence to  a  vast  property,  relinquishing  his  hold 
only  when  compelled  by  death,  deserves  no  credit 
for  generosity.  The  widow's  mite  has  more 
ethical  value  than  his  hoarded  millions  when  thus 
bestowed. 

So  let  us  broaden  our  sympathies,  and  let  us, 
above  all  things,  remember  how  rich  we  are,  and 
do  not  begrudge  any  poor  creature  who  is  looking 
toward  America  for  a  better  position,  a  hold  upon 
the  soil. 

166 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  HOUR 

When  it  comes  to  the  question  of  whether  the 
population  of  the  earth  is  becoming  too  great, 
first  let  us  see  if  we  can  avert  the  danger  by  com- 
mon sense,  and  not  by  any  arbitrary  restrictions. 
In  other  words,  bring  a  common-sense  education 
into  your  schools.  Teach  your  children  self-con- 
trol. Teach  them  the  divinity  of  the  body.  Teach 
mothers  and  fathers  that  children  of  a  better 
quality  is  what  America  needs.  By  cultivating 
the  intelligence  and  moral  nature  we  will  settle 
this  question  of  too  much  population.  Only 
keep  the  light  of  liberty  burning  everywhere  in 
the  home  and  on  the  Nation's  altars,  and  peace 
and  prosperity  will  spread  their  wings  over  all 
the  earth.  To  protect  yourselves  against  the  igno- 
rance and  crime  of  the  immigrant,  see  to  it  that  he 
shall  not  remain  in  ignorance  of  the  principles  of 
a  true  Republic,  and  that  he  is  not  armed  with  the 
ballot,  at  least  until  you  have  become  chivalrous 
enough  to  bestow  it  upon  your  mothers,  sisters, 
sweet-hearts  and  wives. 

The  enfranchisement  of  woman  is  rapidly  be- 
coming a  burning  question.  Thoughtful  men  are 
reasoning  together,  and  asking  themselves,  "Why 
in  the  name  of  common  sense  have  we  not  thought 
of  this  before?  Here  are  women  college  bred, 

167 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

women  fit  to  bring  up  our  sons  and  daughters, 
and  we  have  been  so  foolish  as  to  think  that  they 
have  no  business  with  the  ballot!"  To  extend 
the  franchise  to  women  would  be  an  act  of  simple 
justice.  No  argument  can  be  urged  in  favor  of 
man  suffrage  that  will  not  apply  with  equal  force 
to  woman  suffrage.  Since  it  is  usually  admitted 
that  women  are  more  moral  than  men,  is  it  not 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  with  their  help  better 
laws  would  be  enacted?  See  to  it  my  brothers, 
young  and  old,  that  your  word  of  approval  is 
spoken  for  this  cause  of  woman.  Legislation 
bearing  upon  temperance,  social  purity  and  child- 
labor  will  never  be  what  it  ought  to  be,  nor  will 
the  interests  of  the  home  be  intelligently  dealt 
with  by  the  State  until  women  have  an  equal 
voice  with  man  in  the  Government.  What  man 
is  going  to  vote  against  his  own  pecuniary  inter- 
est? What  woman  is  going  to  vote  against  the 
moral  safety  of  her  home?  With  mother-votes 
would  the  "age  of  consent"  be  what  it  has  been, 
and  now  is  in  many  of  the  States?  It  has  been 
said  that  the  influence  of  woman  has  been  power- 
fully felt  in  our  government;  that  she  has  im- 
pressed herself  upon  the  institutions  of  America ; 
but  that  impression  is  almost  imperceptible,  com- 

168 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  HOUR 

pared  to  what  it  might  have  been  had  our  fore- 
fathers left  that  little  word  "male"  out  of  the 
Constitution,  and  made  it,  not  a  semi-republic, 
but  a  Republic  in  the  full  meaning  of  that  term. 
Let  us  see  to  it  that  our  government  instead 
of  manning  itself  for  war  and  training  its  soldiers 
ready  to  make  a  defense  with  brute  force,  arms 
itself  with  stronger  intelligence  and  a  truer  man- 
hood and  womanhood.  Let  it  arm  itself  in  the 
way  of  multiplying  pubHic  schools,  and  by  a 
compulsory  educational  law.  Let  it  be  compulsory 
that  every  child  under  our  flag  be  taught  the 
English  language ;  let  it  be  compulsory  that  every 
immigrant  who  lands  upon  our  shores  wait  at 
least  ten  years  before  he  is  given  the  ballot.  Keep 
Church  and  State  eternally  apart.  Not  that  I 
would  have  religion  and  politics  divorced.  That 
is  quite  another  thing.  The  Church — I  care  not 
whether  it  is  Methodist,  Presbyterian,  Catholic  or 
Spiritualist — would  not  properly  use  political 
power.  If  we  were  to  have  an  established  religion 
in  America,  I  would  as  soon  have  Catholicism  as 
Presbyterianism  or  Unitarianism.  Why?  Be- 
cause the  moment  you  have  an  established  church, 
conscience  is  stultified  and  hypocrites  multiply. 
At  various  times  an  effort  has  been  made  to  have 

169 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Deity  recognized  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  If  God  is  to  be  confessed  in  the  American 
government,  if  He  is  to  receive  national  recogni- 
tion, let  it  be  in  the  conscience  of  our  politicians. 
Let  it  be  in  true  statesmanship,  instead  of  dema- 
gogery,  and  we  shall  soon  see  His  glory  spread- 
ing over  the  nation,  without  any  assistance  from 
the  Constitution.  God  is  a  spirit.  His  will  is 
manifest  in  every  instrumentality  that  serves  for 
the  uplift  of  the  people.  Let  our  patriotism  be 
like  that  of  the  much-maligned  Thomas  Paine, 
who  declared,  "The  world  is  my  country,  and  to 
do  good  is  my  religion." 

Regarding  the  prejudice  that  sweeps  over  the 
country  at  times  against  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
the  excitement,  anger  and  hate  that  is  thus  aroused 
against  that  Church,  with  the  fear  that  it  threat- 
ens the  life  of  our  Republic,  and  that  the  day  will 
come  when  that  Church  and  the  State  will  con- 
front each  other  in  battle,  to  decide  which  shall 
rule,  I  want  to  say,  I  have  no  sympathy  with  any 
movement  which  kindles  in  the  heart  of  the 
American  people  hatred  of  any  class  or  sect.  I 
believe  the  Catholic  Church  has  a  good  reason  for 
its  being.  I  believe  it  has  done  a  noble  work,  and 
that  every  faith  should  stand  upon  its  own  merits. 

170 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  HOUR 

We  may  feel  that  we  have  good  reason,  from  the 
past  history  of  this  Church,  to  fear  its  influence 
upon  politics,  and  should  guard  against  the  evil 
exercise  of  priestcraft  by  carrying  into  our  every- 
day relations  with  Catholics  the  recognition  of  the 
purposes  and  ideals  held  in  common  with  them, 
arming  ourselves  with  knowledge  and  meeting 
them,  intellect  to  intellect,  soul  to  soul.  Wherever 
we  find  a  good  Catholic  who  is  also  patriotic, 
working  for  the  good  of  his  neighborhood  and 
the  nation,  I  believe,  if  he  is  inspired  with 
American  principles,  and  especially  if  he  has  been 
born  under  the  American  flag,  that  his  sympathy 
will  be  with  the  Republic  as  against  the  Church, 
if  it  should  become  a  question  of  Church  or  State. 
Again  let  me  remind  you  that  wealth  is  not  the 
gold  hoarded  up  in  banks.  It  is  not  that  which 
you  call  Capital  in  the  sense  of  an  arbitrary  meas- 
ure. But  wealth  lies  in  the  possessions  which  are 
ours  by  natural  right.  It  lies  in  the  resources  of 
our  country,  and  the  workingman  has  the  key  to 
the  future  of  this  Republic.  We  can  do  without 
capitalists,  if  worst  comes  to  worst;  so  long  as 
we  have  hands  that  toil,  so  long  as  we  have  hearts 
that  love,  we  can  keep  this  earth  glad  and  beauti- 
ful. Nature  very  seldom  fails  us.  Sometimes 

171 


SONG  AND  SEXMON 

she  blights  our  crops,  sometimes  the  rivers  burst 
from  their  banks  and  cover  the  cultivated  lands. 
Sometimes  storms  of  unusual  severity  cause  de- 
struction. But  after  all,  nature  is  not  fickle  and  un- 
stable. These  gusts  of  temper  are  but  the  effort  to 
right  herself,  and  to  maintain  an  equilibrium,  and 
she  smiles  upon  us  from  out  the  clouds.  Be  hope- 
ful, and  cultivate  the  optimistic  spirit  that  says, 
"Good  is  at  the  core  of  things" ;  "Oh,  my  broth- 
ers, God  exists !"  exclaims  Emerson.  And,  oh, 
the  blessed  ministers  He  has  sent  us  from  age  to 
age!  The  prophets  and  the  seers,  the  statesmen 
and  the  toilers — aye,  the  toilers  are  always  in  our 
midst;  they  are  multiplying  a  million-fold  that 
which  meets  the  common  necessities  of  life;  they 
are  converting  waste  places  into  gardens  of  de- 
light; crude  materials  into  luxuries,  ugliness  into 
beauty.  They  have  builded  the  iron  and  steel  high- 
ways of  the  world;  they  have  woven  the  wings 
with  which  Commerce  flies  the  seas.  So  long  as 
the  toilers  are  with  us  and  continue  to  cultivate 
clear  heads  and  clean  hearts,  we  shall  not  retro- 
grade. 

The  whole  earth  is  looking  to  America  to  see 
what  she  is  going  to  do.  There  are  those  who 
prophesy  that  the  days  of  our  Republic  are  num- 

172 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  HOUR 

bered.  I  do  not  believe  it.  I  believe  that  true 
patriotism  beats  in  the  hearts  of  all  these  young 
men  and  women ;  it  still  warms  the  breasts  of  the 
old,  and  there  is  a  moral  force  in  every  com- 
munity to  find  expression  in  the  future.  When 
the  trial  hour  comes,  that  moral  force,  that  patriot- 
ism, that  love  of  liberty  and  that  large  humanity 
which  has  characterized  us  from  our  birth  as  a 
Nation,  will  leap  to  the  front  and  press  on  to 
victory. 


173 


"LORD   WHAT  WILT  THOU   HAVE  ME 
TO  DO?" 

— Acts  ix'&. 


Address  Delivered  Under  "Temple  Oak,"  Sunny- 
brae,  June  2,  1895. 


"Self-trust  is  the  first  secret  of  success,  the 
belief  that,  if  you  are  here,  the  authorities  of  the 
universe  put  you  here,  and  for  cause,  or  with  some 
task  strictly  appointed  in  your  constitution,  and 
so  long  as  you  work  at  that  you  are  well  and  suc- 
cessful."— Emerson. 


TEMPLE   OAK  HYMN. 


(Tune — Auld  Lang  Syne.) 

We  meet  beneath  our  temple-tree 
Once  more  for  praise  and  prayer 

Bright  angels  bear  us  company 
Our  sacred  rites  to  share. 


177 


TEMPLE  OAK  HYMN 

We  turn  aside  from  toil  and  strife 

To  seek  for  help  divine, 
For  Truth,  which  is  the  bread  of  life, 

And  Love,  its  holy  wine. 

We  lift  our  eyes  unto  the  hills 

Whence  daily  strength  descends ; 
All  Nature  with  sweet  rapture  thrills, 

And  earth  with  Heaven  blends. 
Our  well  beloved,  through  death  re-born, 

Toward  whom  our  hearts  still  yearn, 
Sail  crystal  seas,  this  Sabbath  morn, 

And  to  their  own  return. 

Oh,  may  our  hearts  be  cleansed  from  sin, 

And  as  the  seasons  roll 
E'er  brighter  grow  the  heaven  within 

The  deathless  human  soul. 
Oh,  Thou  whose  will  is  Nature's  law, 

Great  source  of  love  divine, 
Lead  us  in  Wisdom's  perfect  way 

And  lift  our  lives  to  Thine. 


178 


"LORD   WHAT  WILT   THOU   HAVE  ME 
TO  DO?" 


The  will  and  purposes  of  God  are  manifest  in 
the  laws  of  the  world.  Everything  that  exists  has 
come  into  being  bearing  its  divinely  authenticated 
credentials  and  fills  its  appointed  place  in  the 
Infinite  Economy. 

We  have  been  in  the  habit  of  thinking  that 
only  the  great  men  of  the  world  were  called  of 
God.  The  victorious  generals;  the  singers  whose 
songs  touch  our  inmost  hearts;  the  poets  whose 
measures  beat  soul-ward  until  we  feel  God  stirring 
at  the  core  of  being;  the  philosophers  whose 
maxims  are  the  search-lights  that  throw  radiance 
around  our  otherwise  shadowed  paths ;  the 
prophets  and  inspired  teachers  who  have  led  the 
world  to  truth  and  liberty;  the  men  appointed 
to  save  and  govern  the  nations.  It  is  easy  to  be- 
lieve that  God  has  called  all  these ;  but  how  diffi- 
cult to  realize  that  our  little  lives  count  in  the 
great  sum  of  life;  that  in  God's  measures  our  tiny 
drop  of  humanity  is  taken  note  of ! 

The  purpose  of  my  message  to-day  is  to  em- 

179 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

phasize  the  value  of  individual  effort  and  to  show 
how  far-reaching  may  be  the  influence  of  the  lit- 
tle things  of  life. 

Let  us  remember  that  we  are  called  to  live  only 
one  day  at  a  time.  The  Past  is  irrevocable,  and 
exists  only  in  results  which,  however  grievous  they 
may  appear  to  our  finite  vision,  are  nevertheless 
convertible  into  beauty  and  blessedness.  To  act 
in  the  living  Present,  finding  what  are  our  highest 
aptitudes  and  the  means  whereby  we  may  follow 
them,  is  to  obey  the  veritable  call  of  God. 

By  what  humble  instrumentalities  are  wrought 
life's  miracles !  How  slight  a  thing  may  determine 
the  course  of  empires  !  It  has  been  said  (referring 
to  a  preceding  address  by  Walter  Howell  of  Eng- 
land) that  shadows  prove  nothing,  and  yet  the  fact 
that  in  the  eclipses  of  the  moon  the  shadow  cast 
by  the  earth  is  round,  comforted  and  sustained 
Magellan  in  his  determination  to  circumnavigate 
the  earth  under  tremendous  trials  and  suffering. 

Victor  Hugo  says,  "The  pupil  dilates  in  the 
night  and  finds  day  in  it,  even  as  the  soul  dilates 
in  misfortune  and  at  last  finds  God  in  it."  Pain, 
which  the  savage  regarded  as  an  enemy  and  the 
sign  of  the  presence  and  operations  of  a  malig- 
nant spirit,  is  really  God's  signal  of  warning  to 

180 


LORD  WHAT  WILT  THOU  HAVE  ME  TO  DO? 

man,  and  has  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  laws  of 
health.  And  often  the  sorrows  of  life,  the  pangs 
of  the  spirit,  reveal  to  us  a  law  of  God  by  which 
we  are  lifted  above  things  temporal  into  the  realm 
of  the  eternal. 

God  never  requires  of  us  the  impossible,  but 
always  the  best  of  which  we  are  capable,  and  only 
that  will  content  either  our  heavenly  Father  or  our 
own  souls.  How  is  that  Best  to  be  developed? 
How  can  we  overcome  the  degradations  and  moral 
diseases  that  afflict  society  ?  How  shall  the  mean- 
est and  basest  among  us  be  made  to  see  and  obey 
the  vision  of  the  Best  ? 

Some  good  people  believe  that  the  nervous 
system  is  the  seat  of  the  moral  nature,  and  that 
only  the  well  person  can  be  good ;  that  the  best  a 
sick  man  can  do  is  simply  to  refrain  from  being 
bad.  And  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  best 
method  of  reforming  criminals  is  to  feed  them 
well  and  provide  them  with  pleasant  surroundings. 
I  readily  admit  the  value  of  suitable  food  and 
environment,  but  facts  prove  the  fallacy  of  the 
materialistic  idea.  Our  most  dangerous  men,  the 
men  who  are  a  menace  to  the  welfare  of  society, 
do  not  belong,  as  a  rule,  to  the  under- fed,  badly 
housed  classes. 


181 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Children  of  the  same  parents  reared  under 
precisely  the  same  conditions  and  influences  show 
marked  differences  in  moral  character.  The  seat 
of  power,  mental  and  moral,  lies  in  the  realm  of 
the  spirit — our  appeal  must  be  made  to  the  Soul 
through  the  intellect.  When  once  awakened  to  a 
realization  of  its  power,  the  Soul  has  no  limita- 
tions. How  much  greater  it  is  than  the  body  is 
constantly  being  demonstrated.  Some  of  the  most 
majestic  figures  in  history  were  physically  weak 
— some  of  the  world's  sweetest  singers  have 
lodged  in  garrets  and  lived  on  crusts.  Some  of 
the  most  heroic  and  useful  lives  have  never  known 
a  day  of  ease.  We  are  here  in  the  visible  world, 
not  to  be  subjugated  by  matter,  but  to  master,  to 
utilize,  to  overcome.  Matter  is  the  workshop  and 
playground  of  the  spirit.  Think  of  Joan  of  Arc, 
who,  following  her  Vision,  led  the  army  of  France 
to  victory,  and,  when  betrayed  and  forsaken  by 
friends,  amid  flaming  faggots  and  in  mortal 
agony,  that  intrepid  and  unconquerable  spirit  rose 
triumphant  over  her  blind  and  cruel  enemies,  and 
shines  to-day  as  one  of  the  most  glorious  charac- 
ters in  the  annals  of  history.  Think  of  the  tens  of 
thousands  who  have  gladly  suffered  and  died  for 
right  and  freedom,  noble  examples  of  the  power 
of  the  spirit  over  the  body. 
182 


LORD  WHAT  WILT  THOU  HAVE  ME  TO  DOf 

To  be  allowed  a  life  of  luxurious  ease,  to  be 
spared  both  mental  and  physical  suffering,  is  not 
always  to  be  accepted  as  a  sign  of  God's  favor. 
One  may  be  called  to  suffer  that  a  whole  world 
may  be  the  wiser  and  better  for  that  suffering. 
My  thoughts  turn  this  moment  to  a  little  woman 
who  is  an  inmate  of  the  King's  Daughters'  Home 
for  Incurables  in  San  Francisco.  For  eight  years 
she  has  never  left  her  bed  except  as  she  was  lifted 
in  a  sheet,  every  nerve  so  sensitive,  so  racked  with 
pain  that  the  slightest  movement  is  torture,  and 
yet  her  room  is  full  of  spiritual  sunshine.  "God 
is  so  good  to  me"  she  cried,  as  I,  coming  in  for  a 
moment  from  the  beautiful,  joyous  outside  world, 
stood  beside  her  couch  of  pain,  wondering  at  the 
sweet  patience  that  shone  from  every  line  of  her 
white  face. 

There  was  the  music  of  sincerity  in  her  voice, 
and  I  learned  that  she  was  always  thus,  finding 
God  in  every  act  of  loving  kindness,  and  by  her 
gratitude  and  appreciation  teaching  her  more  for- 
tunate friends  a  lesson  never  to  be  forgotten.  God 
had  called  her — she  had  obeyed  the  vision — in  her 
helplessness  she  was  helping  others  to  look  be- 
yond the  vanishing  material  things  for  true  happi- 
ness. 

183 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

The  pitiful  aspect  of  a  little  crippled  beggar 
on  the  streets  of  Paris  laid  the  foundations  for  a 
magnificent  charity  that  shall  bless  many  genera- 
tions. Want  and  pain  have  led  to  some  of  the 
greatest  discoveries  that  have  enriched  humanity. 
Oh,  listen  earnestly  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  speak- 
ing unto  you,  and  remember  it  is  always  to  render 
service.  Try  to  realize  the  nobility  of  your  work 
in  life.  Each  one  of  you  is  as  divinely  appointed 
as  was  Paul  when  he  set  out  on  his  Christion  min- 
istry to  prove  that  though  a  man  die,  yet  shall  he 
live  again.  Better  die  than  not  to  live  in  noble 
service.  The  least  among  you,  the  maimed  of 
body,  the  weak  of  mind,  by  obeying  the  call,  by 
seizing  the  opportunity  nearest  at  hand,  may  do 
a  work  that  none  other  in  all  the  world  can  do  so 
well.  You  have  a  place  in  the  sublime  economy  of 
nature  which  no  one  else  can  fill.  Do  not  let  us 
underestimate  the  value  of  our  daily  tasks,  the 
so-called  little  things  of  life.  If  one  star  among 
all  the  countless  constellations  should  drop  from 
its  orbit,  the  universe  would  fall  into  chaos.  And 
you,  soul-star  of  the  human  firmament,  must  be 
true  to  your  high  calling  or  the  moral  constitution 
of  the  universe  is  hurt. 

Perhaps  in  reply  to  your  cry,  "Lord,  what  wilt 

184 


LORD  WHAT  WILT  THOU  HAVE  ME  TO  DO? 

thou  have  me  to  do?"  He  may  not  say  to  you, 
"Go  thou  into  the  great  world  and  fight  mine 
enemies  with  clash  of  sword  and  noise  of  battle," 
but,  "Stay,  thou,  faithful  to  the  sweeter,  not  less 
noble  task  of  tilling  fields  that  shall  help  to  clothe 
the  naked  and  feed  the  hungry."  Mother,  He  may 
not  say  to  you,  "Go  carve  in  marble  a  form  of 
heavenly  grace,  or  paint  a  picture  that  shall  be- 
come immortal,"  but  perhaps  He  will  point  to  the 
babe  upon  your  breast  and  help  you  to  see  that  the 
fruits  of  your  love,  its  dimpled,  rosy  flesh,  its 
sweet  and  deathless  spirit  may,  through  your  self- 
sacrifices  and  unselfish  efforts,  become  a  pride  and 
joy  to  yourself  and  to  mankind. 

Oh,  for  the  clearer  vision  that  shall  reveal  to 
us  the  dignity  of  our  daily  tasks — the  underlying 
spiritual  necessity  of  work;  work  which  we  have 
sometimes  thought  a  curse,  but  which  is  in 
fact  the  very  price  of  living.  As  the  unused 
muscle  soon  becomes  atrophied,  so  the  heart  that 
heeds  not  the  cry  for  sympathy  grows  callous  and 
shriveled. 

Woe  unto  the  man  or  woman  who  has  come  to 
believe  that  there  is  nothing  for  him  or  her  to  do ! 
The  isolation  and  degradation  of  such  a  condition 
on  the  part  of  any  human  being  is  inconceivable. 

185 


SONG  AND  SERMON 

Have  you  vast  sums  of  money  at  your  com- 
mand ?  The  more  need  that  you  shall  be  up  and 
doing  to  find  for  it  the  highest  and  holiest  uses — 
for  every  dollar  must  be  accounted  for.  Your 
responsibilities  are  commensurate  with  your 
means.  There  are  moral  wildernesses  into  which 
you  can  let  God's  sunlight;  there  are  vast  desert 
wastes  over  which  living  waters  may  be  made  to 
flow.  There  are  noisome  city  streets  where  your 
fellow  creatures  swarm  and  stifle,  in  ignorance  of 
the  wide,  sweet  fields  and  flower-scented  air; 
hells  where  life  is  one  long  night  of  torture — your 
call  is  to  go  there ;  let  love  transmute  your  gold 
to  such  joy  as  the  idle  sensualist  has  never  known. 
Hasten !  hasten  to  your  God-appointed  task ! 

And  you,  little  woman,  with  the  clamoring 
babes,  you  whose  work  is  never  done;  you  whose 
days  are  full  of  toil,  your  nights  of  sleepless  vigils ; 
you,  in  that  narrow  round  of  duties — do  you 
know  that  the  good  God  needs  even  you?  Aye, 
and  it  is  no  menial  service  that  He  requires  at 
your  hand.  Co-worker  with  Him,  every  thought 
of  mother-love  and  every  gentle  service  of  the 
home  adds  to  the  fullness  of  life  and  brings  you 
into  closer  and  sweeter  relations  with  the  Infinite. 

We  have  dreamed  of  heaven  as  a  place  of 

186 


LORD  WHAT  WILT  THOU  HAVE  ME  TO  DOf 

eternal  rest;  but  if  the  spiritual  world  is,  as  I 
believe,  under  the  dominion  of  natural  law,  our 
rest  will  consist  of  a  change  of  activities,  and  we 
shall  continue  to  grow  in  knowledge  and  power, 
and  above  all,  continue  in  that  loving  service 
which  is  here,  and  must  be  Elsewhere,  the  most 
lasting  source  of  pure  joy. 


187 


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